Rezwana Choudhury Bannya is one of the greatest Rabindra Sangeet singers of our time and has played a significant role in popularizing Rabindra Sangeet in the country. She studied at Visva-Bharati University which is one of India's major Central Government funded autonomous universities located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, founded by Rabindranath Tagore. During her time there she was mentored by Kanika Bandopadhyay, Nilima Sen, Ashesh Bandopadhyay, and Santideb Ghosh. In 2002, she was awarded the Ananda Sangeet Puroshkar for being the best female Rabindra Sangeet artist. She also won Sangeet Samman Puroshkar from the Ministry of Culture, India, in 2013. She also founded Shurer Dhara in 1992, a school for learning music in Dhaka. Herself a professor of music at Dhaka University, she has spent the last 35 years bringing Tagore's music and its message to the world through concert appearances, lectures and recordings, including Sruti Gitabitan, a collection of 2222 Tagore songs in 22 DVDs. Star Showbiz recently caught up with her for an interview.

It must have been a great experience studying at Shantiniketon! Would you share a few words about it please?
Going to Shantiniketan was more of a dream to me because from a young age I was fascinated by Rabindranath Tagore. I first went to Shantiniketan in 1975 after completing my Intermediate studies. I enrolled in Sangeet Bhaban (Bhavana) there and graduated in 1979. After completing my Master's degree in 1981, I returned to Bangladesh. I went back for 2 years again in 1990. I had actually started learning Rabindra Sangeet when I was in Class 7 or 8. I even enrolled in Chhayanaut for 2 years before the Liberation War. After liberation, I saw an opportunity for a scholarship by ICCR to attend Shantiniketan, published in the newspaper. That was my ticket. There I got to know great exponents such as Kanika Bandopadhyay, Nilima Sen, among others.

What difference did you find in the environment there?
There was a much closer bond with nature. Secondly, there was music everywhere, a scene that was quite new to someone who had come from Bangladesh. Thirdly the understanding and relationship between teachers and students was integral in bringing about a positive change in our lifestyle. Altogether these played an important role in setting the ground for my understanding of Rabindranath Tagore. However only after returning to Bangladesh did I truly feel the beginning of a personal connection with Rabindranath. Since my understanding of Rabindranath had started to etch into my singing, people probably felt that connection and liked my music; I can't say for sure. But singers like Papiya Sarwar, Kaderi Kibria and others (who returned about two years before me) were very popular already.

You opened a school here and have taught many students. Do you feel any difference between the teaching methods employed in music schools here and in West Bengal?
The style or “dhara” followed in our school is that of Shantiniketan, whereas that in Kolkata is different. Although that draws on elements from Shantiniketan, the presentation is a little different. That particular dhara is not prevalent in Bangladesh. Also, whereas many Shantiniketan students are teaching here in Bangladesh, for some reason they don't realize that much popularity in Kolkata. It is probably because the different style in Kolkata is more appreciated. Shantiniketan's style of singing is quite melodious, soft and delicate; the Kolkata style is a little stronger, and provides more emphasis on pronunciation than in melody.

After Azizur Rahman Tuhin and Aditi Mohsin, we haven't seen prominent figures in Rabindra Sangeet here. What do you think the future holds? Is the current generation enthusiastic?
Students are trying, and we are quite hopeful about a few of our own students. Two or three among those are outstanding and have very good chance of success. I believe that Rabindra Sangeet will always be sung, but everyone these days prefer taking “shortcuts” concerning all genres of music. Apart from that, music and training is vastly prevalent here. Another thing is that although the abundance of television channels has increased the scope for artists, the relative shortage of good artists is causing a lot of sub-par work to be put through.

You were close to Kanika Bandopadhyay. Please tell us a bit about her.
Although she was our teacher from the first year in Shantiniketan, it was later on, from 1990-2000 (until the time of her death) that we grew extremely close. I owe my true learning to her thorough training. In fact beside music, during the last decade of her life she has influenced my way of thinking, perceiving, and understanding of Tagore's life. She had a very dear personality and was quite affectionate towards all of her students. However, there was a certain invisible wall that drew the boundary, I cannot accurately explain it. But in her last few years I felt I had somehow managed to penetrate that boundary; she even affectionately told my mother that I was her own daughter. She would scrutinize my singing, often scold me and correct my mistakes, decide for me which events I should or should not present at, which songs I should sing, the order of the songs, the scale, and every single detail. This sort of “claim” that she held over me, is something I consider a rare fortune.

Do you think there's a difference between the life of an ordinary person and that of an artist?
Definitely! An artist's life is relatively much more sensitive. S/he has to communicate with a lot of different types of people. An ordinary person's needs and demands are usually constricted within a much smaller circle. But an artist feels it incumbent on him/her to deal with other matters alongside those concerning her personal life, family etc. It is difficult to maintain that balance. That is again where one's Guru comes in; he or she can enlighten the artist by providing advice from her own lifelong experiences. In the absence of a guru one has to learn from mistakes all by oneself. From this perspective Kanika Bandopadhyay greatly facilitated my learning. I try to pass on those teachings to my students too, but the bonding with my students although strong, is not as intimate as mine was with my guru. The primary reason is I get to see them only three days a week, whereas in our time our teachers were there beside us from morning to night (almost 24/7). But yes, I do point out their mistakes and try to direct them through the correct path.

Could you please share some of your thoughts about the present music scene in Bangladesh, and I don't necessarily mean about Rabindra Sangeet.
As I said before, it's alarming how people are running after shortcuts and not focusing on learning how to sing properly. In the next 5 years or so they may give up training altogether because technology is making the dedication seem less attractive and less necessary. As a result, music will come at the expense of quality. Anyone can bring out an album or appear on television if they have the money. Such artists will also find it difficult to hold on to their fame for long. We also voice our concerns wherever we can, be it television or radio, but due to modern studio technology such as auto-tune etc, people are failing to grasp the need for intensive vocal training. Especially training in classical music is becoming almost non-existent in our country. FM stations can also do their part by playing good classical and melodious numbers; those will help return a proper sense of tune in people's heads.

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Interviewed by Rafi Hossain and narrated by Ahmed Adib