Basanti Devi Bisht

Basanti Devi Bisht (1953) is a well known folk singer of Uttarakhand, famous for being the only woman singer of the Jagar folk-form of Uttarakhand. The jagar form of singing is a way of invoking deities, which is traditionally done by men. But, Basanti Devi Bisht broke the practice and today is a well-known voice, and is trying to preserve this traditional form of singing. Basanti Devi was awarded the Padma Shri in 2017.^[1][2]

Early life

Basanti Devi Bisht was born in Luani village in Chamoli, Uttarakhand in 1953. She married an artillery soldier at the age of 12 and remained a housewife for the large part her life. Though her professional singing began much later, she has been singing since her childhood. She says that grew up listening to her mother’s jagar songs.

“I always sang along with my mother, who sang as she went about her chores. The many fairs and festivals in the village only made my love for this form of music grow deep.”

— Basanti Devi Bisht, Basanti Bisht gets candid on her musical journey, The Hindu Newspaper

She studied till class 5 in the local village school which was a mile away from her village but could not continue further as the senior school was further from her home and could not be reached by foot.^[3]

Musical career

Her professional career began in her 40's as she was busy with her family till then. After she moved to Jalandhar with her husband, Basanti Devi was keen to learn music at the Pracheen Kala Kendra in Jalandhar, but felt shy as she was an adult, and the other students were young children. She took her first tentative step towards professional musical training, when her daughter’s teacher started teaching her how to play the harmonium.^[3] She started singing in public after that with a focus on bhajans, film songs, etc. After her husband retired, Basanti Devi settled in Dehradun, and joined the All India Radio station in 1996 in Najibabad.

Over a period of time, she realised that the music that she had inherited, and absorbed subliminally from her mother and other village elders in her childhood was unique; “jagar” singing, or all night singing by the village folk in praise of the Gods. The ancient folk traditions of the hills of Uttarakhand were no longer being sung and Basanti Devi took it on herself to search for old lost songs and later render them in the same old tunes.

Basanti Devi's singing is known for its slightly nasal voice production, the sing song style, and the slow pace of rhythm all of which are typical of the Pahadi singing style of Uttarakhand.

Personal life

Basanti Devi feels that she owes it to her region to present an authentic picture visually as well. She dresses in the typical costume of Uttarakhand with the simple gold and silver jewellery – a big nose ring, necklaces, bangles, earrings., large ‘tika’ that runs from her nose to her forehead, and traditional ‘pakhula’. She is photographed as much for appearance in public performances as her singing.

Her husband retired as a Naik Havaldar in the Indian army. Her son is a Wing Commander in the Indian Air Force and her daughter is married to a Colonel in the Indian army.

Awards

• Ahilya Devi Samman by the Madhya Pradesh government (2016-2017)
• Padma Shri (2017)

References