‘When someone asks what I would be, if not a singer, I find it very difficult to answer as I cannot help but only think of being a singer,’ says Fatema-Tuz-Zohra, the very renowned Nazrul Sangeet singer of the country.

Her singing lessons began at the age of three under Guru Habibur Rahman (known as Shathi bhai). She feels her enthusiasm was channelled properly through the guidelines provided by her father, late Dr Syed Farid Uddin. ‘My father was my biggest critic. He used to tell me what to do and what not to. He was also the one who recommended that I sing Nazrul Sangeet,’ she shares.

Zohra feels that at present there is a different scenario, in terms of parents’ endeavours to guide their children. The parents rather push their children to sing for an establishment that has commercial value. ‘This is improper guidance,’ she says.

She reminisces, ‘My father used to say that if you have the quality, people would naturally notice you; just like when the moon rises in the sky. You do not need to tell anyone to take a look, people notice it themselves. I believe this and am proud that I had never tried to ask people to notice me, it rather happened naturally.’

Zohra has a unique power to mesmerise her audience with her singing, including her three children. Her son says about his mother, ‘I have seen people become spellbound when my mother starts singing. She literally has the power to hypnotise.’

‘I never sang to become famous. I sing for the sake of singing. Today there is a wave of contemporary songs. But I do not have any problem with that. I feel no matter what, the focus should always be on basic classical like Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Sangeet and so on. It is not a good idea to abandon these songs as they have no replacements.’

In general, Zohra is fonder of songs that have thoughtful lyrics rather than those that have very plain or simple lyrics. A song that she has already recorded for her upcoming album goes, ‘Amar moner jole rod porechhe/megh korechhe/megh bolchhe jabo je kothay/amar chokher patay gorportay rod porechhe goto koyekbaar/ amar shupto protishodh niyechhe rodh korechhe darun protirodh’. With the lyrics and music composed by Abdar Rahman, this is an example of the types of songs she likes to sing.

‘I think people would have to go deep into the song to understand its meaning and I really like songs like that,’ she says. Zohra likes melody and the dominance of raga in the composition as far as the songs are concerned.

Zohra spent her childhood in Jaipurhat. She passed her SSC from Jaipurhat Government Girls’ School and HSC from Government Degree College, and after her graduation she got admitted for Masters in Rajshahi University. Zohra shared her student life with her mother Fazilatunnesa who passed HSC with her daughter Zohra.

‘As my mother got married at the age of thirteen, she couldn’t pursue her studies, later on she got busy with family and children, but when we grew up she had the time to start reading again, and so she did. She passed her SSC one year before I did but we passed HSC together. I felt really proud of my mother,’ says Zohra.

A very down-to-earth person, Zohra likes to lead a simple life. Luxury never attracted her. All she craves for is a chance to spend time with nature. ‘I am a die-hard nature lover. I love the silence of nature; it feels amazing when you experience it.’

Zohra’s biggest hobby is to collect dolls. She has been collecting them since her childhood and it has now turned into a rare collection. She is still as fond of them as she was in her childhood.

One of Zohra’s dreams is to see a beautiful Bangladesh as she sings of her self-composed patriotic song ‘Amar kolpona chhilo kono shorgo rajje ure ure rupoli pakhir danay bheshe jai…’

A versatile artist, Zohra has written few books as well. ‘I am into writing since my childhood; I got this habit from my father and also from my Ustadji.’ During her student life, Zohra used to write for college magazines, but later on she got her first book published in the year 1994: a collection of poetry titled Jekhane Bhalor Baash. She has written around hundred poems so far.

Though her first book was of poetry, Zohra actually likes to write prose. In the year 1994/95 Zohra used to write columns for a fortnightly magazine named Padma. The column was titled ‘Kichhu niye kichhu kotha’. Later, ‘Kicchu niye kichchu kotha’ was published in 1998 as a book of the collected columns.

After that, Zohra wrote a book on the liberation war named Shonamukhir ko’din. She has also written children rhymes and two such books have been published so far. ‘Rhymester Abu Saleh, one of my very favourite persons, has inspired me to write rhymes. I have emphasised on rhythms while writing them. The two rhyme books are titled Talbahari chhora and Chhoray chhoray bol,’ she says.

However, despite all the accolades and accomplishments that she has received over the years, Zohra regrets one thing in life. ‘I really wish I could be a pure classical artist. But somehow that did not happen. I always feel upset when I think about it.’

Zohra is quite optimistic about today’s generation of singers, coming from different talent hunt shows. ‘These programmes made people take interest in music and day-by-day the participants are becoming more promising. When all these started there was only a handful who could actually sing. But now we see more talented and well-groomed singers,’ says Zohra.

When asked about how she juggles all these responsibilities at the same time, she says, ‘everyone in my family is very supportive. We give each other enough space to make thing easier for one another. That is how I have come this far.’

Source: New Age