Shirin: Liberate Tagore’s Lyrics for the Commoners

Shirin, from Murshidabad, a schoolteacher of English Literature is a rising star of Rabindra Sangeet. Ruchira in a candid interview with her, exclusively for Different Truths.

From an obscure Murshidabad town to the centre stage in Kolkata’s musical circles, Shirin Soraiya has come a long way. Shirin Soriya’s life is a saga of determination, willpower and confidence which helped in her meteoric rise as a Rabindra Sangeet vocalist. This graceful lady with mesmerising doe-like eyes and a charming smile, teaches English at a school, and lives in Kolkata’s Picnic Gardens with her tiny daughter. She dreams, eats, and thinks of nothing but Tagore’s lyrics. She is becoming increasingly visible on numerous television music channels. However, having come thus far, she is not resting on her oars. She nurtures hopes, dreams, and still has miles to go…

Ruchira: Please tell us about your early years, family background, education, etc.

Shirin: I was born as H. M. Soraiya Parveen. Shirin happens to be my nickname. Since people had problems with the original one I   thought of this via the media. I belong to an average middle-class family, hailing from Baharampur (headquarters of Murshidabad district, West Bengal). My parents, both alumni of Calcutta University, were school teachers by profession. Though we had no musical background, yet my father was a great music enthusiast. He was a noted social worker and a cultural (president) activist during his university days. My brother and husband are both in the medical profession. I hold a master’s degree in English Literature from Kalyani University (Nadia Dist.) which I followed up with a B. Ed. degree. Apart from academics, I was into dance, drawing, tabla-playing and lots more during my school days.

Ruchira: Please trace your musical career graph for us.

Shirin: My first brush with singing was at age 4 or 5, when I first began to speak. It was my Abbu (father), who constantly encouraged me to learn music/singing. My basic training was in Hindustani classical, which I learnt for nearly six years. My first Rabindra Sangeet tutor was a well-known exponent, Maitreyi Majumdar. A disciple of the legendary Suchitra Mitra, she was a strict disciplinarian and a purist, who strictly adhered to the basic grammar and swaralipi (notation). She frowned upon mutation or distortion of rules. Having trained under her, I too personally make it a point to conform to the basics as far as possible. You may brand me as conventional. I continued my musical training till I left home in 2007, to do my master’s. But throughout, be it at school, college or the university, I was the cultural secretary. I was always into singing, choreography, holding public functions at Rabindra Sadan and similar prestigious halls, participating in Shakespeare’s plays, and so forth. In fact, I always wanted to carve out a career in performing arts and culture. But my parents would have none of it. Their diktat was: “Sing to your heart’s content but your first and only priority in life should be education”. In 2012, I married and found a schoolteacher’s job. Two years later, our daughter was born. Then life turned hunky-dory. Managing the household, childcare, teaching in a school, located far from home, kept me so occupied that singing took a backseat. 

Five years down the line i.e., 2017, I decided to revive singing. I had always been an avid fan of Srabani Sen (daughter of eminent singer, Sumitra Sen and sibling of singer, Indrani Sen). I managed to get hold of the whereabouts of the Sen family and landed there straightaway. I was both delighted and surprised to discover how humble, unassuming, and down-to-earth the mother and daughter duo were. As I was busy the whole week, I joined Sraboni di’s weekend music classes under the banner of “Sphulingo.” Thus began the second innings of my musical career. I was deeply touched and overwhelmed by my mentor‘s kindness and affection towards me.

Then the Pandemic came, and my life went on a downslide.Since Kolkata was a danger zone, we retreated to our country home, in our native place. For an educated working woman like me it was maddening, suffocating to be cooped up at home, with little movement or contact with other human beings. But I resolved not to succumb to despair. During those cataclysmic moments. I lived with no thought other than Tagore and his songs. I clung to them tenaciously; indeed it was Tagore who helped me to pick up the threads of life again. I began practicing with greater gusto. In 2020, on Pochis e Boishakh (Tagore’s birth anniversary), I launched my first song, which was much appreciated and warmly received.  Now, having made up my mind to learn the technical aspects, I seriously delved into technical books to master the techniques of sound effects, sound engineering, recording, editing, etc, even fixed up a home studio for the purpose. My Facebook page was born in 2020. One-and-a-half-year down the line, it has notched 3,60,000 plus followers. My success today may rightfully be ascribed to both Facebook and YouTube. Both are now monetised, and I gratefully acknowledge that the remuneration from these sources is important to me.

Sraboni di has been a guiding beacon of my life; when I was wavering, it was she who inspired and encouraged me to hold on steadfastly to Tagore’s songs. Till date, I have upheld her advice in letter and spirit. For many years, I sang regularly on Prasar Bharti FM (Bahrampur). I have sung at various programmes in Kolkata and will continue in the future. My journey has just begun (laughs).

Ruchira: Your awards and accolades won so far?

Shirin: During my Baharampur days, when I  was in the 5^th /6^th  year of Rabindra Sangeet training, I was awarded a gold medal by the Bangiya Sanskriti Parishad for bagging the top position in a state-level competition.   

Ruchira: Your favourite singers?

Shirin: Hemanta Mukherji, of course Sagar Sen, Lata ji, my mentor, Srabani (Sen) di and so many others.  

Ruchira: If not a singer what would you have been?

Shirin: Well, I am a student of literature and am still teaching literature. So, I guess, if I didn’t sing, I would still be teaching literature (laughs).

Ruchira: Your hobbies?

Shirin: I am fond of drawing, painting, sketching etc. I study music in depth.  I must also mention that almost up to my teenage years I had lived in my native village. The lush greenery, idyllic surroundings had inculcated in me a love for nature. As there was no electricity back then, I remember how during summer nights all of us would relax on the terrace under the canopy of a starlit sky. I often get nostalgic about the vast azure skies, rain – waterlogged verdant fields.  In cities you do miss out on such experiences. On rainy days, I enjoy looking out at the cloud-laden dismal skies along with my daughter. No home study for her on such days. We kind of lapse into a holiday mode. It is during such moments that Tagore’s songs on Barsha (rains) assume greater significance for me.       

Ruchira: Your views on the future of Rabindra Sangeet?

Shirin: I personally feel, as of now, Rabindra Sangeet is heavily chained and shackled by Draconian rules and regulations, which the budding artists often find oppressive and intimidating. There is an erroneous idea doing the rounds that Tagore’s music is meant only for esoteric groups. But that is not so. Tagore wanted his music to permeate the lives of even the lowly and meek. After all, how I interpret Rabindra Sangeet will differ from how you do. A poem, for instance is the spontaneous outpouring of the poet’s emotions, love, and passion. But once published its significance to each reader will be unique in its own way. I nurture a dream: it shall be my endeavour to liberate Tagore’s lyrics from pseudo bondages and put it within the grasp of the common man. 

Photos sourced by the interviewer