Firoza Begum. COURTESY
HMV's rehearsal room. A small singer is singing in front of Kazi Nazrul Islam. Age is about 10 years. Nazrul was fascinated by the song. He said to the artist, “How did you learn this song?” Her reply was, “By yourself. Listening to the black record.”
Kazi Nazrul Islam was surprised. Kamal Dasgupta said to everyone present, “What a happy day, tell me. A Muslim girl in HMV's rehearsal room. You see, this girl will have a name.”
Firoza Begum did not just name. Nazrul Sangeet and Firoza Begum have become one. The archive was created with the songs and life of that Firoza Begum. The archive was inaugurated through a webinar on Wednesday, the artist's 91st birthday. This digital archive called www.ferozabegum.com contains all the rare collections including his music, interviews, reports about him. This was organized by ACI Foundation with Firoza Begum.
Speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural function, Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury said, "Firoza Begum has devoted herself to Nazrul Sangeet all her life. Firoza Begum Nazrul not only assimilated philosophy, but also promoted it. Nazrul's songs have spread all over the world. I sincerely thank you for this initiative.”
Speaking as the special guest, MP and cultural figure Asaduzzaman Noor said, "We do not save anything. If the Firoza Upper song is lost, it will be a big loss for us. If we do more of these things, we will be able to preserve our cultural heritage.”
Besides, artists Mustafa Monwar, Ferdousi Rahman, Firoza Begum's brother, former secretary and lyricist Mohammad Asaf Ud Doulah and son Shafin Ahmed also paid tributes. Artist Anup Ghoshal from Kolkata commemorated the artist at the inaugural event. Aarti Mukherjee, Haimanti Shukla, Srikanth Acharya and others sent video greetings. Firoza Begum's friends including two Bengali musicians also took part in the inaugural function. At the end of the program, a recorded speech of music director Azad Rahman about Firoza Begum was broadcast. Sushmita Anis could not attend the ceremony as her mother was ill. Director Sadia Afrin Mallick read out his speech.
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