There may be many singers releasing their Chhath songs every year but it really does not feel like Chhath without hearing Sharda Sinha sing. The “Bihar Kokila” has become synonymous with the festival.
Songs like Ho Dinanath and Kelwa ke paat par ugalan suraj mal jhake jhuke still rule and people associate Chhath with Sharda’s songs.
The folk songs played during Chhath mirror the culture, the social structure, the mythology and history of Bihar.
“Modern” Chhath songs, largely Bollywood filmi remixes, have flooded the market but Sharda’s appeal has not been affected.
On why people still prefer to listen to her songs during Chhath, a shopkeeper in Patna’s Boring Road area, Manoj Kumar, said: “The Chhath songs which Sharadaji sings stirs people emotionally and these songs are heard year
after year. People have grown up listening to her songs and they cling on to that nostalgia. Her songs are registered in the minds of people.”
Last year, Sharda had released two new albums after a gap of a decade. Her last album of devotional songs was released in 2006. The two albums were launched in the form of video with the lyrics Supawo Naa Mile Maai and Pahile Pahil Chhathi Maiya.
Some of her songs that are played in every nook and corner of Patna during Chhath include Hey Chhathi Maiya, Bahangi lachakat jaaye, Roje roje ugelaa, Suna Chhathi Maai, Jode jode supawa and Patna ke ghat par.
There are other singers who release their Chhath songs every year, such as Khesari Lal, Rakesh Mishra, Annu Dubey, Kalpana, Gunjan Singh Devi, Indu Sonali and Arvind Aakela alias Kallu Ji, but they don't have the kind of connect like Sharda. Most of these singers mix Bollywood chart-busting numbers with Chhath songs.
Sharda expressed her disappointment over the new-generation singers who are not able to make a mark in society as far Chhath songs are concerned.
“First and foremost, the new singers are uprooting the originality and tradition of Chhath by mixing several things in the songs,” Sharda said. “Today’s singers want everything in a fast-forward manner. It’s like going around the corner and window shopping. For achieving great things, you need to attach yourself to your roots, attach yourself to the quality of the music.”
Sharda said this instant masala music will always be low in quality because one cannot create quality through formula.
“To create quality, you need to give time. Singers should never try to play with the mood of the song and always keep it as it is. Chhath is a very old and historic festival. For historic things, you have to sing like that. If you try to infuse modernity just for the sake of being modern, then Chhath wont remain Chhath. You will have to talk about Raja Dashrath from the point of Ramayan. If you treat Raja Dashrath from the view of Greek mythology, it will not match,” Sharda said.
She added that now singers opt for technology blindly, not realising the damage it can cause to earthy music.
“New singers use auto-tunesoftware that help them hit and maintain the right pitch. It means even if you are a non-singer, that particular software can make you make a singer. Even in Chhath songs, they ensure to keep the beats and music which ultimately turn into dance numbers which is like uprooting Chhath culture,” she said. On not releasing any new Chhath songs this year, Sharda said: “I do not believe in continuously sending numbers in market. Whenever I sing, I have the feeling that there should be music in silence also.
“First create the music but unless you remain silent you cannot feel it,” she added. “Last year’s video had become a trend-setter and now everyone is trying to make Chhath videos.
“Next year, with the new season of Chhath I will try to put things on track. You have to wait for good quality, I cannot just go on because of the market demand and just because people are asking for it.”
