“It’s 11.36 a.m.,” reads the message from Begum Parveen Sultana. And I hurriedly redial her number since the interview was scheduled for 11.30 a.m. “I plan my day meticulously and to a bizarre level of detail,” she says when I apologise for the connectivity issues.
“Even my lockdown routine is organised. It would otherwise be difficult to stay calm during such a crisis and continue to follow your passion,” she adds, explaining how she manages to make time for music amid household chores.
“I wake up at 6 a.m. Then begins the cleaning and cooking along with my daughter Shadaab. After lunch at 1 p.m., I relax for sometime. Post a brief chai session, my husband Ustad Dilshad Khan and I step into the music room for some riyaaz or to work on a new composition. It’s time again to cook. We have an early dinner and I go to bed. When you create and stick to a daily practice, you will experience how it optimises the mind, body and spirit.”
Parveen is excited about rediscovering her culinary skills that she had almost forgotten in her busy schedule as a performer. “I am a good cook. Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan and Ustad Alla Rakha have relished my biriyani and kebabs.”
One of the foremost Hindustani vocalists, Parveen Sultana’s voice can, in the switch of a note, transform from the meditative to the powerfully evocative.
“The discipline and dedication to achieve what you have set out to, I learnt from my father Ikramul Majid. He was my first guru and the reason behind who I am today. He would always tell me, ‘seize the moment.’ This lockdown phase often takes me back in time — to a childhood spent in Puranigudam in Nagaon district of Assam, moving to Calcutta to learn from Pt. Chinmoy Lahiri and then arriving in Mumbai along with my guru-cum-life partner Ustad Dilshad Khan. Throughout this journey, music has been the purpose behind my every move,” says Parveen, whose singing manifests the grandeur of the Patiala Gharana.
“Lockdown, in a way underlines the significance of tehraav ,” she points out. “The need to pause and be thankful for what life has offered us. In music, it is as crucial. The patience to savour every note, experience the silence as much as the sound and understand the bhaav . In art, you cannot take the elevator, it has to be a step-by-step progression.”
NEW DELHI, 26/10/2017: Hindustani classical vocal by Begum Parveen Sultana, an Assamese classical singer of the Patiala Gharana, at the Delhi Classical Music Festival in New Delhi. Photo: V.V. Krishnan
A staunch votary of traditional music, Parveen believes that the beauty of Indian classical music lies in its time-tested values. She emphasises upholding the sanctity of the method of training and presentation on stage. “It’s a Gurumukhi vidya, imbibed by sitting in front of the guru, and Karni Vidya, which means gaining proficiency by practising. Jo riyaaz karega woh raj karega . Jumping from one genre to another chasing success is futile. Whether classical, folk, Tagore sangeet or Sufi, you have to soak in the nuances of the style to be able to stir souls. To me success is when the audience leaves the hall with my music on their mind. That can happen only when I establish a strong bond with the art.”
Known for her charismatic stage presence, Parveen Sultana makes her love for jewellery and bright silk saris apparent during her concert appearances. She establishes a rapport with the audience through her music and her affable persona.
“Every calamity teaches us valuable lessons. So has this pandemic. The need to reach out to each other. We are seeing how difficult it is to exist in isolation. Also, rise above differences and pettiness. My parents were progressive Muslims, who believed that art has no religious identity and that a girl child should not be stopped from pursuing her dreams. I sing in praise of Shakti (‘Bhavani Dayani’ is a staple in her concerts). Art and heart should have no boundaries,” says Begum Parveen Sultana.
