Veteran folk singer Farida Parveen, the doyenne of Bangladeshi folk music, has passed away. She died at 10:15 pm on Saturday at Universal Medical College Hospital in Dhaka. The hospital’s authority, told Channel i. She was seventy-one years old. She is survived by her husband and four children. Bangladesh has lost one of its most loved voices.
For many years, she had been suffering from complications of the kidneys. She had been going for dialysis twice a week. On 2 September, she had been admitted to Universal Medical College Hospital in Mohakhali for the procedure. However, after her session, her health began to decline. Doctors suggested immediate hospitalisation and she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Last Wednesday, as her condition continued to decline, she was placed on a ventilator. In spite of the best care, the final curtain fell, the great voice fell silent, and Farida Parveen flew to eternity.
Farida Parveen was born on 31 December 1954 in Singra of Natore. She led a life steeped in song. Her professional journey as a musician started in 1968, when at the age of fourteen she was recruited as a Nazrul Sangeet singer at Rajshahi Betar. Nazrul Sangeet and modern songs were her early specialisation, but it was to be a different path for her—one which destiny seemed to have willed in a curious sort of way. A chance incident is how Farida Parveen would later describe the turn of events. A homoeopathic physician in Kushtia, who was enchanted by her singing, one day suggested that she try singing Lalon’s songs. They would, he opined, sound great in her voice. She demurred initially but, at her father’s gentle persuasion, agreed to learn. Thus, she started training under the maestro Moksed Ali Shah. The first Lalon song she learnt was Shotto bol shupothe chol, ore amar mon. At a Dol Purnima festival, when she sang that song the audience asked her for more, but she declined. She had only come to sing that one song and was keen to perfect it, she said. But from that day on, Lalon and his philosophies were to be the songstress’s inseparable companion, and her listeners, the ones for whom she sang, would endearingly call her ‘Lalonkonya’—the daughter of Lalon Fakir.
For more than five decades, she lent her voice to Lalon’s philosophy and mystic spirituality. She travelled from Japan, Sweden, Denmark to Canada, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, singing and spreading Lalon’s timeless vision across the world. Her contribution was officially recognised in Bangladesh in 1987, when she was awarded the Ekushey Padak. In 1993, she would win the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her song Nindar Kata in the film Andho Prem. In 2008, she received the Fukuoka Prize from Japan for her contribution to Lalon’s music. Besides Lalon’s songs, the heart of the people would be graced by her melodious voice in the modern and patriotic numbers such as Tomra bhuley gechho Mallikadir naam and Ei Podda, ei Meghna.
Life was not without its struggles. She learnt music, with single-minded focus and determination, from many gurus and singers, including Ustad Kamal Chakraborty, Ustad Mir Muzaffar Ali, Khoda Box Shah, Brajen Das, Behala Shah, Yaseen Shah and Karim Shah. Childhood and schooling were marked by her father’s medical postings to different districts, but her higher education was completed in Kushtia. Song was a constant companion.
In her reflections, Farida Parveen had spoken about how nervous she was the first time she went to Dhaka Radio to record a song, in 1973. To be in the presence of such stalwarts as Abdul Hamid Chowdhury, Kamal Dasgupta, Samar Das and Kader Jamil was something she found hard to describe. Afraid yet determined, she sang for fifteen minutes and was met with praise from the legends present. She would hold on to the memory for years to come.
Kushtia helped to keep the spirit of Lalon’s music alive in her. The folk singer would not just be remembered for her voice but also the love and respect she carried in her heart for Baul and for Lalon’s music. Bangladesh honoured her with its highest cultural awards; the world respected and cherished her for taking the Baul tradition to a global platform.
Tributes have been paid at her death. In a condolence message, the Chief Adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, said he was deeply saddened to learn of Farida Parveen’s death. Although she had begun her singing career with Nazrul Sangeet and songs of other genres, Farida Parveen was ultimately embraced by listeners as the ‘Lalonkonya’. For five decades her mellifluous voice carried the poetry of Lalon into the hearts of millions, and brought new dimensions of spiritual philosophy and humanism to Bangladeshi culture. He prayed that her soul rest in eternal peace and expressed sympathy to her bereaved family.
Cultural Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki also said Farida Parveen will be remembered for her contribution forever. He prayed for her departed soul and extended heartfelt condolences to her family.
