Rabindra Sangeet veteran passes away

Kolkata: One of the leading exponents of Rabindra Sangeet from the late 70s through the 80s, Purba Dam, passed away in Kolkata in the wee hours of Saturday. She was 85. One of the favourite students of Rabindra Sangeet doyen Suchitra Mitra, Dam breathed her last on a day which was also the 96th birth anniversary of Mitra. Throughout the day, Rabindra Sangeet artists, both seniors and contemporaries, paid tributes to Dam on the social media and remembered how she was handheld into the world of Tagore music by Mitra and how, despite the looming presence of Mitra in her shaping up as a singer, Dam successfully carved out a style of rendition that was her own.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her deep condolences. “I shared a close bond with her. Her passing has created a void in the world of Tagore music that will never be filled,” the CM wrote in her condolence message. The state government gave her the Sangeet Samman in 2013.

To Suchitra Mitra’s daughter, Sudeshna Chatterjee, who grew up seeing Dam as part of her family, the passing of Dam was like severing of the umbilical chord all over again. “My mother was her world and this was proved once more when she breathed her last on her guru’s birth anniversary. She would tell me, tor Ma dakchhe…I wouldn’t believe her then, I do now,” Chatterjee said.

Some of Dam’s unforgettable renderings include ‘Madhur Tomar Shesh Je Na Pai’, ‘Aar Nai Re Bela’, ‘Tumi Jeona Ekhuni’, ‘Jani Nai Go Sadhan Tomar Bole Kare…’

Rabindra Sangeet

exponent

Sumitra Sen said that Dam has now transcended into the divine world of music, leaving behind a rich repertoire of songs for the world to remember her by. Promita Mullick said that despite her rare talent, she remained an affable, easy-going person one loved to go to.

Dam was suffering from age-related ailments and died of cardiac arrest at her Dhakuria residence. Residents remembered how her sixth floor door was always open for everyone. She was known as ‘Gaan Dida’ or ‘Gaan Mashi’ to the younger people and her ‘malpoa’ was a favourite across 11 floors of the building, said neighbour Chhanda Roy.


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