Singer Runki Goswami enthralled the audience with songs in 17 different languages. Mansi Bhansali listens in
A packed auditorium with a fair sprinkling of every generation and constant clapping set the scene. The spotlight, however, was firmly fixed on the stage. For it was here that folk singer Runki Goswami sang compositions from different states of the country and left everyone spellbound with her melodious voice. With this, she also proved how the grain of the earth powers up your vocals and wells up your emotions.
In order to retrieve the cultural connectivity, Rustic Folk of India - A Humble Tribute, was organised at IIC’s CD Deshmukh Auditorium. Goswami sang songs ranging from Rajasthani to Bengali and from Pahadi to Telugu. Familiar songs like Madhaniya, Morni, Bumro, laung Gawacha and Kesariya, many of which have made their way into popular culture thanks to Bollywood, made the audience to groove on the beats. Goswami was accompanied by Virender Singh on rhythms, Saif Ali Khan and Hemanth Juyal on guitar.
Runki Goswami is a learned Hindustani classical music singer and composer. She started her career by producing Bengali albums. Her tryst with Indian cinema started in 2013. Her music was noticed due to the genre of melody she revisited which is now obsolete in majority films. “I have been listening to folk music since childhood. My grandmother loved folk music and she started teaching it to me when I was a child. She made me listen to the verses of folk songs and interpreted their meaning so that I could feel the centrality of emotion. I grew up with music, which is and will always be my first love,” says Goswami.
She learnt music from different gharanas. But despite years of training, one needs to be made of sterner stuff to pursue classical music. Says she, “Folk music will always be there. It will never go out of fashion because it comprises customs, faith and beliefs. So, if any music person today wants any reference, he has to go back to folk. The base is folk, one can remix it in many versions but folk as a form will never disappear.”
Goswami feels that there is an urgent need to promote regional folk music to bridge the gap between youth and culture. And in pursuit of this, she has made sure that the entry to her shows is often free so that every class of person can come and experience her kind of music. Believes she, “Even the new generation music directors like Amit Trivedi use a lot of folk. Singers at Coke Studio are remixing folk. So, it is getting revived on its own and it is a form that will never go out of fashion. It will remain in some form or the other.”
The talented singer sang in 17 different languages at the event and also explained the meaning of some of the songs. “I love all kinds of regional forms. I am a Bengali, so I am closer to Bengali folk. But every folk song has its own beauty” says Goswami.
The singer of the hit Bengali devotional album Debobeen and Hindi albums like Manmarzian and Odhi Chunar Dhaani has a word of advice for raw talent. “listen and understand the culture and then start picking it up. Don’t sing just for the heck of singing. You will be able to do justice to folk only when you understand what it is trying to say. Only then can you communicate the emotion.” She considers it a blessing to be born in a musical family but says discipline is the key of any pursuit.
Recently, Goswami debuted as a music director with the Telugu film, Writer, directed by M Balu and her super composition Teen Maar Beatulakki is still a favorite with the masses in Telangana. Her shift to commercial Telugu films was nothing but chance as she was spotted by a film director. But didn’t Goswami have a problem with the language issues while composing Telugu songsIJ She says, “language was never a problem for me. The team I’ve worked with was very supportive. They use to tell me the meaning word-by-word and I also did my own research. Even I asked my maid to talk to me only in Telugu. These little exercises really helped me.” She prefers private albums over movies songs as she can use her creativity to the fullest.