Today (November 21) is the birthday of noted Rabindra Sangeet Artiste Papia Sarwar. Born and raised in a music oriented family of Barisal, Papia Sarwar had an idyllic childhood. Her mother used to play the organ and her father composed songs. While a first year student of the Department of Zoology at the University of Dhaka, the artiste received a scholarship from the Indian government to study Rabindra Sangeet at Visva Bharati University, Shantiniketan in 1973 -- the first Bangladeshi to avail the opportunity after Independence.
There she trained in classical music under Pandit Dhrubotara Joshi. Shantidev Ghosh, Subinoy Roy, Kanika Bandyopadhyay and Neelima Sen taught her Rabindra Sangeet and Ashesh Bandyopadhyay oriented her on the tappa genre. It is a matter of pride that, Papia stood first in all four years at Shantiniketan.
Prior to leaving for Shantiniketan, the singer took music lessons from Atiqul Islam, Waheedul Haq, Sanjida Khatun and Zahidur Rahim at Chhayanaut and Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA).
Papia Sarwar runs a musical troupe “Geetoshudha,” which was named by the legendary singer Kanika Bandyopadhyay. Coming midway between the zodiac sign of Scorpio and Sagittarius, Papia Sarwar is vivacious, witty, self confident and an introvert. Her lucky colour is violet she says, though she hardly believes in such things and rarely wears violet. “I am drawn towards all colours in our traditional Jamdani, handloom saree--taant and South Indian saree. I wear few gold ornaments, but prefer wearing costume jewellery which makes me feel young at heart,” says the singer. “Personally, I feel that it is time to give to dedicated singers what I have gathered through my experience so far, but I am yet to come across such an artiste,” Papia says.
Marking her birthday, Channel i will air live a solo musical adda at 7:45am while My TV will air her solo musical event at 8pm. With a distinctive yet soothing voice, Papia Sarwar has carved a niche in the hearts of music lovers in her five-decade career.
This is to wish her a very happy birthday and years of fulfillment in the coming years.