Samiksha Singh

Among many valuable tips that she picked up during a month-long training in Calcutta recently, Samiksha Singh (12) learnt that one needs to be a good human being for becoming a good singer, ignore all negative energies and only concentrate on learning.

The advice came from none other than Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, the vocal maestro who is still going strong at 104.

Samiksha, a Class VII student of Hill Top School, got the rare chance of interacting with the maestro during the training organised by Spic Macay at ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Calcutta. This is the first time that Spic Macay organised such a training, from June 2 to June 28, for students. Samiksha was the youngest and only girl from Jamshedpur to find a place.

Principal of Hill Top School Puneeta Chouhan had recommended her name along with those of two others. Samiksha sent a CD of her songs and was selected after telephonic interviews.

The trainees had the option to pick their guru from the distinguished list of Pt Ajoy Chakraborty, Girija Devi, Arun Bahaduri, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Ulhas Kashalkar and Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan. Samiksha chose Ustad Khan.

“It was a wonderful experience. I didn’t know that one should always riyaz (practise) at madhya saptak (set of notes) and not mandra saptak or taar saptak, which requires more stress. I also learnt that the perfect time for riyaz is 5am,” said Samiskha, who was a student of Pandit Chandrakant Apte, but after he passed away, she shifted under the tutelage of Uma Guha.

“The schedule was very strict. We used to wake up at 4.30am and begin practice at 5am. Training went on from 11.30am to 2.30pm during which we discussed music, ragas and other intricacies with guruji. In the evening, we again sat with guruji from 6.30 to 9,” she said.