Скачать или смотреть Nirmala Chattoo

The singer who Kashmir remembers and misses and celebrates in life
by Dr. Pankaj Kaul
Mrs. Nirmala Chattoo recorded more than 500 songs for Radio Kashmir from 1963 to 1983, She sang Gazals by Ghalib, Momin, Mir, Zafar, Iqbal, Shaqeel, Amir Minayi and others, Bhajans by Meera and Surdas, and Geet by Yash Sharma and YC Kausar.

But it was in singing Kashmiri poetry that she found her calling and passion. The sheer diversity of the poets whose words she weaved into the tapestry of her amazingly melodious voice was amazing. Her voice was rich in timbre, colour and tonal quality; it had amazing depth and pitch, and exhibited faultless control of rhythm and metre. But, above all, it was her capacity, through her singing, to express emotion and the deepest thoughts of her life, and, thereby, peer into some unknown and transcendent realm of alternate order and beauty, that set her apart from all others. It was, as if beyond the physicality of day to day living, music was the answer to the mystery of life.

She sang poetry of Habba Khatoon, Rehman Rahi, Muzafar Azim, Ghulam Nabi Firaq, Wahab Dar, Motilal Saqi, Rashid Nazqi, Tanha Nizami, PN Kaul Sayil, KL Kaul, Mehjoor, Fazil, Almast, AA Farhad, Kamal Sopori, Saba Kashmiri, Radhe Nath Massarat, Shahid Badgami, Mirza Arif Beg, Amin Kamil, Samad Jan, Ghulam Rasool Santosh, Ghulam Nabi Dolwal and many others. She owes a special debt of gratitude to Dr Abdul Rehman Rahi for his support and encouragement generally throughout her career, but specifically at the beginning.

Mrs Nirmala Chattoo was born in a well-to-do Kashmiri Pandit family of Labroos, in Narayan Joo Mohalla, near Bul Bul Lanker (named after the 14th century Turkistani Sufi of Suharwardi order, who introduced Islam to Kashmir by converting the Tibetan King of Kashmir, Rinchan Shah to Islam.

Narayan Joo Mohalla lies between Aalikadal and Nawakadal, and sat on the banks of Nallah Mar, a navigational canal running through the old city of Kashmir, which connected Brari Nambal lagoon to the Khushal Sar lake, in the past, and thus provided navigability between the Dal and Anchaar lakes. It was filled up to pave way for a road through the old city, a decision which, with hindsight, is considered to be an ecological disaster, that led to choking of Brari Nambal, affected the entire water system of Kashmir, and precipitated repeated flooding of the valley during rainy seasons. During its pristine days, Nallah Mar afforded many Pandit families a continuous Shikara ride from the footsteps of their homes to Nishaat Mughal Garden, and was considered the life-line of the city, upto the early part of 20th century, till the advent of motor transport.

The Labroo family was steeped in musical tradition, where parents and children all sang. Her formal musical training was undertaken under the tutelage of Mr Dwarikanath Kaul, at Pulaskar Sangeet Sadan in Karan Nagar, Srinagar.

She did her BA in music from Women's College, Maulana Azad Road, Srinagar, and in 1955, performed in Dina Nath Nadim's Kashmiri opera, Bombur te Yembarzal (Bumblebee and Narcissus), as a 3rd year student at the College, which hosted the opera in honour of the Premier of USSR Marshal Nikolai Bulganin and his deputy Nikita Khruschev. Dina Nath Nadim was awarded the Soviet Land Nehru award in 1971 for this composition. Nehru accompanied Bulganin and Khruschev down a Shikara ride on the Jhelum later whilst a sizable population of Srinagar, including school children, given a special holiday, cheered them on, with laughter and rose petals.

Nirmala ji completed her MA in Political Science from Ramjas College, in Delhi University, from 1957-59, and married Mr Pyarelal Chattoo in 1959. With marriage and children, her musical career took a backseat as she took care of her children, father-in-law, Mr BN Chattoo, and husband's extended family.
Her husband, however, was enamoured of her singing, and she found active support of her husband’s brother-in-law, Mr MN Dhar, who himself was a singer in Radio Kashmir. She was strongly supported by the talented composer and music director at Radio Kashmir, Mr Virinder Mohan, who identified something special in her at the very first audition.

Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan, of Patiala Gharana, stayed back in India when his entire family migrated to Pakistan at partition, and was celebrated as one of the greatest composers of Thumri in 20th century. He taught Laxmi Shankar and Nirmala Devi, Shobha Gurtoo, Parween Sultana, even Manna Dey and Rafi. He used to come to Radio Kashmir on assignments, and provided Nirmala ji valuable insights into classical "gaiki", for which she was grateful.
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