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Bangla-Turkish folk fusion to hit Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi beauty
is just back from Chennai where she recorded a song for music director A.R.
Rahman. Faria has also completed a CD titled Egyptian Groove, on which she
has sung Bangla folk songs set to Turkish music. It will be released in
Bangladesh followed by a launch in West Bengal. But Faria refuses to divulge
any details about her Rahman project, apart from saying, ‘‘It’s a solo with
beautiful lyrics which is typical of Rahman. He heard me sing somewhere and
asked me to record one song for him.’’ Faria has trained under her mother
Sultana Choudhary who is a Baul singer from Bangladesh. In India, she began
taking lessons in Hindustani classical music from vocalist Shanti Heera
Nandi. She’s planning a solo recital in Delhi soon. Faria has accompanied
her mother for performances at Akshara Theatre on Baba Kharak Singh Marg,
and the Jehan-e-Khusro festival in the city in 2002.
To Be
Continued...
Shailaja Tripathi
New Delhi, September 7:
Call it perfect timing. Just as Fethi Etem, the popular second-in-command at
the Turkish mission in Delhi, gears up to head back home, his wife Faria
Etem is getting into the thick of action here.
The Bangladeshi beauty
is just back from Chennai where she recorded a song for music director A.R.
Rahman. Faria has also completed a CD titled Egyptian Groove, on which she
has sung Bangla folk songs set to Turkish music. It will be released in
Bangladesh followed by a launch in West Bengal.
No, these aren’t Faria’s
farewell gifts to India, but the first steps towards building a lasting
relationship with a country she likes so much. ‘‘I come alive only when I
sing. And I realised that my heart lies in singing only when I came to
India. Had I been in any other country, I wouldn’t have,’’ she says.
But Faria refuses to
divulge any details about her Rahman project, apart from saying, ‘‘It’s a
solo with beautiful lyrics which is typical of Rahman. He heard me sing
somewhere and asked me to record one song for him.’’
Faria has trained under
her mother Sultana Choudhary who is a Baul singer from Bangladesh. In India,
she began taking lessons in Hindustani classical music from vocalist Shanti
Heera Nandi. She’s planning a solo recital in Delhi soon. Faria has
accompanied her mother for performances at Akshara Theatre on Baba Kharak
Singh Marg, and the Jehan-e-Khusro festival in the city in 2002.
The couple will leave
for Turkey in mid-September, only to keep returning. India is an extension
of her home, says Faria. Ditto says hubby. While Faria’s musical connection
will repeatedly get her back to India, for Fethi the perfect excuse is that
he wants to travel across the country. He describes his five-year stay in
India as ‘‘just perfect’’. ‘‘But my only regret is that I couldn’t travel as
much as I wanted to.’’ Recalling his tenure in Delhi, he says that his first
assignment was rather funny. ‘‘Since the embassy’s translator was away on
leave, I was asked to translate for Turkish contestants participating in the
Grasim International,’’ he says.
The ‘‘friendly
atmosphere and frenetic pace of events’’ in the city left him all the more
impressed. ‘‘Delhi gets into your blood. Art exhibitions, dance concerts,
food festivals, there is something happening at every hour in the city,’’
says Fethi.
Being a part of the
diplomatic circuit ensured that besides attending parties, Fethi also threw
some. Like the much talked about do that featured a belly dancer Fethi had
especially flown in from Turkey. ‘‘I knew that it was a hit because
everybody was asking for a repeat performance,’’ he recalls.
He is taking with him
‘‘lasting friendships and fond memories’’. ‘‘India shares many similarities
with Turkey. In both countries, our family values are intact. We have some
common words too. In Turkish love is ashk and in Hindi it is ishk,’’ he
points out. Fine example, we must say.
Indian Express 8th September 2003
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