Poonam Sharma, one of the traditional singers, in Patna. Picture by Sachin

Patna, June 19: Poonam Sharma (45) is not a great singer. She does not have any professional training nor a melodious voice. Many young girls in her colony claim they can sing better than Poonam, but that hardly has an affect on the latter’s popularity.

Poonam is the most sought-after singer of her locality, courtesy the rich collection of songs for all kind of rituals at her disposal. She has inherited the legacy of traditional songs such as sohar, sung on the occasion of child birth, haldi geet, samdhi, samdhan milan, vidayee geet and many more which are associated with the various rituals involved in a Hindu marriage.

The traditional songs are fast disappearing from the city culture. Earlier, older women in the family used to sing such songs but now, not many people remember the lyrics or the tune of these compositions.

Families who migrated from villages and have forgotten most rituals popular back home, look for experienced and well-versed people like Poonam to help them perform the rituals in a traditional way. The remuneration too is special for the special singer. Poonam is paid Rs 1,000-plus for performing at one ceremony at a time.

“Initially, singing was a hobby but soon I realised there is a dearth of singers with a good knowledge of traditional songs. Even if a member of a family can sing, she does not know enough songs to last for four to five hours, till the time the rituals continue. So I decided to take up singing at ceremonies as a profession,” said Poonam.

“I switched to professional singing on the suggestion of a friend. My mother-in-law too used to sing at ceremonies but she did not choose it as a profession. I took it up as my profession to become self-dependent,” said Poonam.

Finding artistes like Poonam is also very difficult. Anita Agrawal, a homemaker from Patna City, said she had to run around looking for a professional singer who could sing traditional songs. “I have little knowledge of marriage-related traditional songs. During my brother-in-law’s marriage, some of our relatives sang a few songs but their stock soon got exhausted and we had to repeat the same songs again and again. For a recent marriage in my family, we decided to look for professional singers but could not find one till my friend helped me locate one near my colony. On a promise of Rs 1,100 payment, the singers agreed to perform for two days,” said Anita, adding that apart from the money she had to gift the women saris and some cosmetics. “It is part of the ritual. Those who sings these songs on marriage and other ceremonies are also given clothes as a kind of shagun,” added Anita.

She said in the metros like Calcutta and Mumbai, the condition is even worse. “One can hardly find these singers there. I have sent such singers from Patna to my relatives living in bigger cities. The singers are paid between Rs 11,000 to Rs 15,000 for one function when they go outside,” said Anita.

Agrawal has two daughters but they are not interested in learning traditional songs. “I asked my daughters to learn these songs so that they can participate in various rituals but they are simply not interested, she said.

Sumitra Devi (50), another sought-after singer, said the speciality of the traditional songs is that one can experiment with the lyrics and add humour to the composition to make them more entertaining, not only for the guests but also the bride and the bridegroom.

Sumitra refused to share the abuses she hurls at the parents and relatives of the bride and the groom while singing the songs. The abuses are a part of rituals like samdhi milan and marwa geet. On insistence, she sang a samdhi milan song making fun of the samdhi (bridegoom’s father), “Sanchi kahe tora awe ke samdhi, angina mein aaye bahar samdhi, bakra ke murat bhera ke surat, gadha me ek hamar samdhi (truly speaking when you come, you bring the spring to my garden, you look like a goat and have the face of a sheep, you are a donkey, my dear samdhi.”

Pandit Shyam Das Mishra, a local classical singer who has President’s award to his credit, said: “In our Indian tradition, we have songs for all occasions. The speciality of these songs is this that they are sung by village women who don’t have any knowledge of music, lay and laykari (rhythm sense) but still they manage to please the listeners with their songs.”