Tributes paid to legendary music maestro Surinder Kaur

SD Sharma

Chandigarh, November 25

The Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi and Nightingale Music Akademi paid rich musical tributes to legendary iconic Punjabi singer, Dr Surinder Kaur, on her 90th birth anniversary. 

 Affectionately called as Koyal or Nightingale by music aficionados world over Surinder Kaur had translated the soul of pristine Punjabi folk music in her gayaki. 

 “Every song she sang became an instant hit,” said poet Ninder Ghugianvi of Punjab Arts Council while sharing his association with the legend. 

 Ghugianvi disclosed that her illustrious singer daughter Dolly Guleria was carrying ahead the legend’s legacy through her  Nightingale Music Academy (NMA), headed by Dolly, with her daughter Sunaini, and her granddaughter Rhea. 

 “They all take a lot of pride in inheriting the legacy of music from her mother, grandmother and great grandmother, respectively, and feel blessed to celebrate Surinder Kaur’s musical life with her ardent fans even today,” added Ghugianvi. 

 They  were joined tonight by students and members of the NMA to celebrate Surinder Kaur’s  musical life journey dedicated to Punjabi music in its traditional, pure and pristine form and relive those cherished memories once again as a musical tribute to the legendary artiste.

The evening promised its audience a walk down memory lane through musical nostalgia with flavours of the folk music, soul stirring lyrics of Baba Bulle Shah, Shah Hussain, Prof Mohan Singh, Shiv Kumar ‘Batalvi’, Amrita Pritam, Babu Singh Mann, Inderjit Hassanpuri  and many such literary stalwarts, whose poetry was sung by Surinder Kaur . 

Today’s programme titled ‘Suran da Sagar’ commenced with an invocatory shabad gayan by Dolly Guleria and others before repertoire of songs immortalised by Surinder Kaur. 

Dolly Guleria led Sunaini and Rhea, besides students of the NMA,  who doled out about 20 songs sung by Dr Surinder Kaur. 

The audience sang along songs like  ‘ Bajre da sitta’, ‘Pichhe pichhe aunda meri chaal’, ‘Kale rang da pranda’, ‘Sadke sadke’, ‘Shaunkan mele di’, ‘Jutti kasoori’ and more sung to perfection.

The Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi Secretary, Pritam Rupal, anchored the programme with literary acumen.