Ferdausi Rahman - unique blend of dignity and devotion

It was in mid-sixties, that I first heard about Ferdausi Rahman (then known as Ferdausi Begum). My parents were great music lovers and they talked so much about Ferdausi Begum that I began admiring her from my childhood. My mother used to read out series of a travelogue in The Begum magazine titled 'Gaan Geye Elam Chine' wrote by the singer after her visit to China. My admiration only grew stronger as I started listening to her singing, saw her on screen & stage and read about her.

Her song 'Yeh arzoo jawan jawan, ye chandni dhuwan dhuwan' from the movie Kajal remains top of my favourites, since school days. And thus began the saga of my love for this amazing singer! The most common trait that people mention about her is her extraordinary talent. Who else will endorse this more than an ardent admirer like me, a follower throughout our growing years?

I saw her in many programs but never got the chance to talk to her. Since decades, I was nurturing this dream of sitting with her, talking to her informally and hugging her. Very fortunately, that grand day came on 9th February 2020. My husband and I went to see her at her place in Banani. The interior decor made it obvious what an excellent 'Home Maker' she is! Her hospitality was beyond expectations.

The time we three spent for about 2 hours was simply out of the world. She is a 'Knowledge Bank' of music. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed discussing our favourite genre, Raga-based music with her. It was a breathtaking experience for us to listen how she grew up in a beautiful environment with her progressive-minded parents, how she was inspired by her mother and father to step into the domain of music, how she had the chance of meeting and receiving accolades from great singers/music makers like Ustad Salamat Ali, Ustad Nazakat Ali, Debabrata Biswas, Shandhya Mukherjee and Mehdi Hassan.

I sat beside her, listened keenly to her experience, her words of wisdom, expressed my feelings, the birth & growth of my love for her. The ecstatic moment for me was when I hugged her and felt the warmth and goodness of her heart. A long cherished dream was fulfilled!!

It would take volumes to write about her, which is not possible in one article. So I'll just highlight the phases of her life that made her today's most respected and loved singer in Bangladesh. She is undeniably one of those very few names in Bangladesh's cultural arena, that have forsaken the known frontiers of popularity and lifted themselves to the level of institutions themselves. Not just because she sings impeccably anything and absolutely everything that one can imagine an artist to be doing, what gives this Ageless Beauty such brilliance are the precision, consistency and class with which she has pursued this passion for music throughout her life.

Born on 28 June 1941 in Cooch Behar, a small and beautiful town in the northern part of West Bengal, Ferdausi Rahman is the only daughter of the legendary folk singer Abbasuddin Ahmed, popularly known as the 'Emperor of Bangla Folk Songs'. He was also one of the close companions of Bangladesh's National poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Ferdausi Rahman has followed her father's footprints and proved her worth in almost all genres of music - Classical, Khayal, Thumri, Ghazals, Geets, Nazrul Geeti, Modern Bangla songs, Bhawaiya, Bhatiali and all other kinds of folk songs.

She said her father Abbasuddin Ahmed, named her after the Persian poet Ferdowsi. Her elegance and nobility shown in her attire and speech, belies her age. She has a glorious career of seventy-four years behind her.

Her father remains her greatest inspiration and idol to follow. Even though he is no more in this materialistic world, she feels he is always with her through his teachings and principles that she has been following without any compromises. She has two elder brothers, former Chief Justice of Bangladesh Mustafa Kamal and singer Mustafa Zaman Abbasi. She is married to Rezaur Rahman, an engineer and industrialist. They are blessed with two sons Rubaiyat Rahman and Razin Rahman, and four grandchildren. Her niece Nashid Kamal sings NazrulmGeeti, Folk and Classical. Her other nieces Samira Abbasi (in the US) and Sharmini Abbasi (Dhaka) are also singers.

Who else does she see as idols after her father? She said, "Ustad Nazakat Ali and Ustad Salamat Ali are two men I really look up to. I personally have always been their greatest fan. I also hold Bade Ghulam Ali Khan with high esteem as an idol".

Her musical career started under her father's direction. She was hardly six years old when she performed on stage for the first time in 1946, After the India-Pakistan partition in 1947, the family migrated to erstwhile East Pakistan and that very year she sang in a radio program called 'Khelaghor'. While she sang as a child artist in many radio programs, her first singing for the radio was in 1955. For the first time in 1957, she had recorded two folk songs 'Praner Batha Ke Bujhibe Shoi' and 'Amai Ghor Chhara Korili' with HMV in Karachi, and both songs became very popular. Her first Long Play "Best of Ferdausi" was also recorded with HMV in 1967.

Ferdausi Rahman began her career as a playback singer in 1959 with Ehtesham's 'Ei Desh Tomar Amar' under the music direction of Khan Ataur Rahman, followed by 'Aasia' in 1960, with her father as one of the music directors. The first Pakistani film she sang in was 'Chanda' an instant hit in both the wings of Pakistan. Most of the songs in this film were by Ferdausi in flawless Urdu, which made her a super hit singer throughout the country.

She sang some more popular songs for Pakistani films also in 1960s. Working with music composer Robin Ghosh in film 'Chakori' (1967) added one more feather in her cap. She continued play-backing for films in both wings of Pakistan and lent her voice to about 200 films. She has over 500 disc records, a few LPs, and a good number of cassettes to her credit.

On 24 December 1964, when PTV was launched in Dhaka (erstwhile East Pakistan) she was the first person to perform on television. Her song 'Oi je akash neelholo aaj shey shudhu tomar preme' still mesmerizes her listeners. Just three days after the launch, the first music lesson show for children, 'Shongeet Shikkhar Ashor' was aired (27 December) with Ferdausi Rahman as the teacher. Renowned singer Kalim Sharafi who was the General Manager and Program Producer at that time and eminent artist and producer Mustafa Manowar had persuaded her to appear in the program with twelve to fifteen students.

The two puppets Mithu and Monty created by Mustafa Manwar added chocolate toppings to the show and got children glued to the television around the time of the show. Who is not familiar with the most popular music teacher Khalamoni and the song 'Jadur pencil, aha jadur pencil'? The show running for 57 years, was renamed 'Esho Gaan Shikhi' and has become synonymous to the 'Singer par excellence' -Ferdausi Rahman!

This illustrious Singing Bird has travelled as a member of various cultural delegations to many countries around the world including India, Myanmar, Thailand, Iraq, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Afghanistan, Russia, Greece, Mauritius, Yugoslavia, UAE, the United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada.

She led the first official cultural delegation to Pakistan from independent Bangladesh. She had the talent to sing in languages of almost all the counties she had visited. She won the hearts of listeners by singing in Urdu, Punjabi, Pushto, Persian, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Yugoslavia (formerly known; it now has four names: Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian and Montenegrin), German, Greek, Afghan, Thai, Malay, Turkish and English. During her long career as an artist, she had the honour of singing for the Queen of England, late Premier of China Chou En-lai, late President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito, last King of Afghanistan Mohammed Zahir Shah, the Foreign Minister of Turkey and many other dignitaries of the world.

Her academic feat is no less commendable. She stood first among the girls and 7th in the combined merit list in her Secondary School Certificate Examination winning a gold medal, and attained 12th position in the combined merit list in her Higher Secondary Certificate Examination. She obtained her Honours and Masters' degrees in Sociology from Dhaka University. In 1963, she was awarded a UNESCO Fellowship for music and she studied staff notation at the London Trinity College of Music for six months.

Sincerity and devotion have been her driving force in achieving the present status.  She does not fail to mention in all her interviews/informal talks how she took her father's guidance seriously and acted with determination. She definitely gives credit to her parents, brothers, nieces, husband and children for supporting her quest of knowledge in music. She also believes that the appreciations, advises she had received from her teachers/Ustads and people from the film industry inspired her and at the same time gave a chance to review/reassess her own performance. Such efforts do reflect her absolute perfection. She valued most, the love of her listeners that has made her musical journey worthwhile.

Her advice to music enthusiasts, "Every singer must learn their basics first. You can be a classical singer, a rock singer or a pop singer, but if you don't have a strong foundation - at some point you'll lose consistency, fail to reach the next step and ultimately phase out". Ferdausi Rahman is running the 'Abbasuddin Shongeet Academy' with special passion. She has been an active member of the Inner Wheel Club, the second largest International organization. She is also associated with the 'Nazrul Sangeet Shilpi Parishad' since its inception. In the past, she has held quite a number of important posts including the Social Service Secretary of Dhaka University Central Students Union and an honourable member of the National Jury Board of the Film Award.

Throughout the years, this talented singer has worked hard to make glorious contribution to the cultural arena and has been conferred with prestigious awards like:
* Lahore Cine Journalist Awards (1963)
* President's Pride of Performance Award by the President of Pakistan(1965)
* National Film Award (1976)
* Bachsas Awards (1976)
* EkusheyPadak (1977)
* Independence Day Award (1995)
* Lifetime Achievement Award at the 'Meril-ProthomAlo Awards' (2008)
* Nasiruddin Gold Medal and the Film Journalists Award. (2009)
* A Crest as part of the GunijonShongbordhona program (2009)
* Life's Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daily Star-Standard Chartered 'Celebrating Life' event for playback and Bhawaiya songs (2012)
* And many other National awards like "Best TV Singer" and "Best Music Director's Award" for the film "MegheOnekRong"

Ferdausi Rahman has started writing her autobiography and is also contemplating on publishing books of her own songs. Besides being a source of inspiration for many, these will be invaluable reference material for music lovers, enthusiasts and aspirants in the cultural domain. She has all the reasons to celebrate her life as she has carried herself with dignity, elegance, intelligence and in stately, unafraid manner. She perfectly demonstrates the amazing power of humility. She exudes an air of relaxed calm. This beautiful human being is celebrating her birthday today 28th June. My best health wishes for her. May she continue reigning hearts of millions. She is undeniably the pride of our country!
Nazneen Ferdousi, Communications Consultant (freelance)