Remembering Shanti Sharma

Shanti Sharma

Shanti Sharma, an accomplished classical singer, passed away recently at the age of 52. This was a great blow to me; an irreparable loss to Hindustani classical music and music aficionados of India, Bangladesh and all over the world.
There are mixed opinions about her end. Her students from Delhi say that she committed suicide by jumping off the roof of her house. On the other hand, her sister re-opened the case and suspects that Shanti may have been murdered. I draw comfort from the fact that the truth will be revealed, and carry memories of the touch of her feet, her voice and her sparkling eyes. I feel an immense void after this incident. My message to didi (Shanti) is, "The eternal flame of music remains luminous in my heart. I am blessed that you bestowed on me a garland of melodies."
How I met didi is a different story. At the age of 14, as a student of Chhayanat, one of our teachers said that we should take practicing music as a prayer. From that moment, the basic seven notes or swar became a passion. After a few years, when I was in the ninth grade, our favourite teacher Sanjida Khatun came to our class and told us to stay back and listen to a renowned classical vocalist, Shrimati Shanti Sharma.
From the beginning I was hooked to her music -- she performed Raaga Bhairav at noon and yet managed to create the ambience of early morning.
Fifteen years passed by. In addition to learning music, I had completed my master's degree. I realised that this was not the proper path. So, I decided that I should train under a guru. Things fell into place when I got the opportunity to go to Delhi's Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra. There I began learning classical vocal from Sonia Ray, a disciple of Shanti didi. All the while I was keen to meet didi again. Suddenly, after three months, I got a God-given opportunity when she accepted me as her disciple.
I never ceased to marvel at her remarkable voice. Once she took me to a recording studio to play the tanpura. I was captivated by her performance as she sang Amir Khan's best-loved raagas, Megh Malhar and Ahir Bhairav, with great spiritual profundity.
Another memory: Last year, along with her other disciples, I accompanied her when she performed and gave lecture demonstrations to students of Faridabad Delhi Public School at the initiative of Spic Macay. As she introduced didi to the school children, chief guest Dr Annapurna said that didi was an example of a holistic human being as she attained the feat of combining a degree in chemistry with her mastery of classical vocal music.
My memory also takes me back a few years ago when I was undergoing a personal crisis at a time when I was doing my honours in Botany and master's in Development Studies. Music was my saviour at that stage and I learnt how to surrender myself wholly to the art form. I have to thank didi for seeing me through in that rough period.
I can see her creative genius in many of her performances: Shankarlal Festival, ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Tansen Samaroho, Sawai Gandharv Festival and others such as Spic Macay tours. As I see it, her major accomplishment was to gain praise from critics and laymen for her serene and contemplative touch, which went along with swift and complex taan and sargam patterns.
Though didi is no more, her music will live on amidst disciples like me.
The writer is a freelance contributor