Smt. Rupan’s husband, Pandit Uddalak Samanta has trained with veteran tabla player, the late Pandit Shankar Ghosh of Farukkhabad Gharana for two decades. Smt. Rupan and Pandit Uddalak Samanta have been performing music together for a long time. They are currently on a US tour where they have given performances and have conducted workshops in New Mexico and Texas. They make a stop in Boston to sing at a concert organized by LearnQuest Academy on Friday, June 7. The double header concert will also feature a vocal recital by Surmani Dr. Dattatreya Velankar and will held at First Parish Unitarian Church, ‪225 Boston Post Rd Wayland, MA‬.

Shuchita Rao from Lokvani recently spoke to Smt. Rupan Samanta and Pandit Uddalak Samanta.

When I was very young, I started learning from my father, the Late Shri Birendranath Sarkar who was a performing Bangla folk artist. I learned the basics of music and how to sing khyals from him. My first stage performance was at the age of four years.  I also learned the basics of Kathak dancing in my childhood.

I stayed at Vidushi Girija Devi’s home for ten years and learned from her in traditional Guru Shishya Parampara. I learned semi-classical Poorab Ang genres such as Chaiti, Kajri, Dadra, Jhoola, Barahmasa, Banni Banna, Sohar, Holi etc.. She kept teaching me and I kept learning.  I have given her a lot of vocal support in her concerts.

90% of thumri textual content is about love. The themes revolve around the story of Radha and Krishna or the story of Yashoda and Krishna or the story of Krishna and Gopis. There are always two characters in the story. It could be that Krishna is an infant and referred to in the song as “lalla”, or a young boy referred to in the song as “laala” or a young man referred to as “laal”. A scene such as young man Krishna playing Holi with Radha and gopis (raas rachaana) could be described in thumri lyrics.

 With the right training, one can learn to sing thumri. Appaji used to say “Khyal is like a wheat farm – you plant wheat seeds and the wheat crop grows. Thumri is like a garden. You have to design the layout – where to plant Bela (Bela tree), Gulab (rose bush), where to lay the lawn…” Someone who aspires to sing thumri must be sensitive, emotional and creative. A thumri singer must be well versed in raga grammar and have an understanding of related ragas so they know how to transition from one raga to another because as I mentioned earlier, thumri rendition can use multiple, related ragas in the delivery of a single thumri.

My husband’s family had put out an advertisement in the newspaper looking for a bride who was a trained singer. We responded and my husband came to see me. We liked each other, the match was finalized and then (she laughs) we got married. Everybody in my husband’s family loves music. My co-sisters sing but I am the one who sings it on a professional level.