Raj Begum in 2011 (at 84)
Raj Begum continues to have a special aura among the singers of Kashmir.
It is because she had a high-pitch, deep-drilling, haunting voice, that
touches the timeless and sorrowful plateau of a listener’s psyche. Sorrow,
more than joy, touches the deepest chords of human soul. There were
and are other good singers but none has the sorrowful, almost mournful
voice that Raj Begum had.
Those of you have read my article Meeting Raj Begum know that I was
able to get thirty songs of Raj Begum in 1988 with considerable difficulty,
as they were not available commercially. I pleaded with Director of Radio
Kashmir in 2011 to release them to public as they were a public treasure
but that was not of any avail. Raj Begum’s songs started coming on You
Tube just a few years ago, but they are only few.
In early 90’s I released a few of Raj Begum’s songs to KP Network,
if that is the correct name. Now I have decided to release twenty-one
of the thirty-one songs of Raj Begum that I possess. It is being done
through Google Drive. But that only creates listings alphabetically and
not according to the desired order in which its author would like to
publish them, according to the quality of the songs.
In my, and that of the many Kashmiri music professionals’ estimation,
following are the six greatest songs sung by Raj Begum:
- subh phul bulbulav tul shore-googa
- vaisey gulon aavuy bahar
- kya kya wanay dost che
- rum ghayam sheeshas byegur gov bane myon
- kyah roze pardan chaaye chaaye soze-jigar myon
- wal az vaisey dokh mashravith sheraw loluk bagh (duet)
I am sorry that I do not have “ kyah roze pardon chaay chaaye
soze-jigar myon” song. The “rum ghayam sheeshas” song has
been obtained through Youtube, it is given after the Google Drive
listing.
As stated earlier, as the Google Drive listing is not according to
the merit of the song, therefore, I am suggesting that the listeners
use the following hierarchy:
- subh phul bulbulav tul shore-googa This I consider to be her best song.
- vaisey gulon aavuy bahar
- kya kya wanay dost che
- wala wav katha boz
- marimund yaro
- wal az vyasey dokh such mashrith
- may ravum rath doh aram
- mushrav thus janan
- kan thuv agar choy hosh
- rang phatney meney jawane
The rest of the songs can be heard in any order.
The Google Drive Listing link is the following:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zhf4BYwcW5SH-s-x1iNH01ovi9vYdCcj?usp=sharing
Rum Ghayam Sheeshas begur gav baana myon:
Suffern, New York, Feb. 27, 2021
maharaj.kaul@yahoo.com
