Renowned folk singer and Padma Bhushan recipient Sharda Sinha dies at 72

Public Lokpal
November 06, 2024

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Renowned folk singer and Padma Bhushan recipient Sharda Sinha dies at 72

New Delhi : Popular folk singer Sharda Sinha, known as ‘Bihar Kokila’ for her melodious rendition of Chhath and folk songs such as “Kartik Maas Ijoriya”, “Suraj Bhaile Bihaan” and Bollywood hits “Taar Bijli” and “Babul”, lost her battle with cancer at a hospital here on Tuesday. She was 72.

Sinha, who pioneered and popularised the rich folk traditions of Bihar beyond its borders, was undergoing treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Delhi for multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.

That Sinha, whose songs were an integral part of Chhath, dedicated to the sun god, died on the first day of the four-day festival was a coincidence scripted by destiny perhaps. Sinha, a trained classical singer who blended the folk in her many songs and was often called the ‘Begum Akhtar of Mithila’, was a Chhath devotee who released a song to celebrate the festival every year. She did so this year too, notwithstanding her ill health. “Dukhwa Mitayin Chhathi Maiya”, a prayer song perhaps reflecting her state of mind as she battled ill health, was released on her official YouTube channel just a day ago.

“Sharda Sinha expired at 9.20 pm due to refractory shock as a result of septicemia,” an AIIMS official said.

The singer, who had been battling multiple myeloma since 2017, lost her husband a few months ago. She is survived by a son and a daughter. Sinha, a Padma Bhushan recipient synonymous with folk songs in Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Maghahi languages, had been on ventilator support following a health complication. She was admitted to the intensive care unit of Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH), the cancer institute of AIIMS, last month. 

Supaul-born Sinha was famous in her native state and parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh courtesy her folk songs sung on occasions like Chhath Puja and weddings. Some of her popular tracks are “Chhathi Maiya Aayi Na Duaariya”, “Dwar Chekai”, “Patna Se”, and “Koyal Bin”.

Sinha studied literature at Patna University in the 1970s when she was egged on by friends and well wishers to hone her passion for singing.

She went on to obtain a doctorate in music from the Lalit Narayan Mithila University at Darbhanga while making her mark as a folk singer, getting noticed by big names in the film industry.

In the 1990s blockbuster “Maine Pyar Kiya” that introduced Salman Khan and owed to its soundtrack its record breaking performance at the box office, Sinha’s rendition of “Kahe tose sajna” was hailed as the perfect backdrop to the pain of the lovelorn lead pair.

Accolades followed and Sinha continued to carry forward the rich memory of folk music through her voice, careful to never associate with poor and double entendre songs that became popular in Bhojpuri later. PTI