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Remembering Anjuman Ara

7 June 2004, 18:00 PM
LIFESTYLE
By AHG Quddus
7 June 2004, 18:00 PM
News of the death of Anjuman Ara reminds me of one wonderful dusk we spent together in the early 1970s. During that period I used to spend most of my evenings with a family in Segun Bagicha. I used to call the head of the household, Bhai, and his wife Didi. Many national figures attended the evening gatherings. On one post-war evening, no one came foraddaexcept me. Didi cooked up a plan to spend the evening in someone else's house. She promised me a surprise.

The three of us went to a house. The lady of the house appeared familiar but I had never met her face to face. It was none other than Anjuman Ara Begum, a noted singer of the time. Didi introduced me as her cousin, an amateur singer who had come from Kolkata. Anjuman was thrilled to meet a fellow singer and brought out her harmonium. We all began to laugh. She could not understand the cause of our laughter. Didi finally disclosed the plan by saying that I was neither from Kolkata nor a singer, rather we all came to spend the evening with her and listen to her favourite songs.

Eventually Anjuman sang for two hours. I had never enjoyed listening to any singer to the same extent. What made her songs so unique was her dedication to music and her commitment to this medium.

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Anjuman Ara is no more, but that evening of the early 1970s still lives on in my memory.

Dr AHG Quddus, Professor of Sociology, University of Chittagong