Dr. Basanti Bisht (born, 1953) is a well known folk singer of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

, famous for being the first woman singer of the Jagar folk-form of Uttarakhand. The Jagar form of singing is a way of invoking deities, which is traditionally done by men but, Basanti Bisht broke the practice and today is a well-known voice, and is trying to preserve this traditional form of singing. Basanti Bisht was awarded the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 2017.

Early life

Lok Jaagar Gayika Vidushi Dr.Basanti Bisht was born in Luwani village/dewal block of

Chamoli district Chamoli district is a district of the Uttarakhand state of India. It is bounded by China's Xizang Autonomous Region to the north, and by the Uttarakhand districts of Pithoragarh district, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar district, Bageshwar to the eas ...

bordering Kumaon Uttarakhand in 1953. She married an artillery soldier at the age of 15 and remained a housewife for the large part of her life. Though her professional singing began much later, when she learned music in

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

, Punjab. But she has been singing since her childhood. She says that grew up listening to her mother's jagar songs. She was the 1st batch of 03 girls who studied till class 5th in her village school which was a mile away from her village. She was the 1st girl-student who stood 1st in the District Board Examination of 5th standard and was awarded scholarship @20/-month for further studies for 03 years. But could not continue further as village had no school beyond 5th and the middle school was very far 15 km from her home and could not be reached by foot all alone through jungle.

Musical career

Her professional career began in her 40s as she was busy with her family till then. After she moved to Jalandhar with her husband, Basanti Bisht was keen to learn music at the Pracheen Kala Kendra in

, but felt shy as she was an adult, and the other students were young children. She took her first tentative step towards professional musical training, when her daughter's teacher started teaching her how to play the harmonium. She started singing in public after that with a focus on bhajans, film songs, etc. After her husband retired, Basanti Bisht settled in

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

, and was empanelled in 1996 as an : "B" GRADE Artist at

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

station

Najibabad Najibabad is a town in the Bijnor district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, located near the city of Bijnor. It is a major industrial centre and has national transport links via rail and roadways such as NH 119 and NH 74. History Nawab ...

. In 2013 she was awarded "A" Grade Folk Singer Category. Currently she has earned and is the only "TOP GRADE" Grade Folk Singer of Aakashwani from Uttarakhand. She had the blessings of people to be elected as the 1st Lady Pradhan in 1996 of her village. Over a period of time, she realised that the music that she had inherited, and absorbed subliminally from her mother and other village elders in her childhood was unique; “ jaagar” singing, or all night singing by the village folk in praise of the Gods. The ancient folk traditions of the hills of Uttarakhand were no longer being sung and Basanti Bisht took it on herself to search for old lost songs and later render them in the same old tunes. Basanti Bisht's singing is known for its slightly nasal voice production, the sing song style, and the slow pace of rhythm all of which are typical of the Garhwali singing style of Uttarakhand.

Personal life

Her husband retired as a Naik from the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. Her son is a Wing Commander in the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

and her daughter retired as Captain is married to a Colonel in the Indian Army.

Awards

* Rashtriya Matoshri Ahilya Devi Samman by the Government of Madhya Pradesh (2017) *

(2017) * Teelu Rauteli Nari Shakti Samman by the Government of Uttarakhand * "First Ladies" by Ministry of Women & Child Development Govt. of India 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisht, Basanti Bisht 1953 births Living people Singers from Uttarakhand Indian folk singers Indian women folk singers People from Uttarakhand Culture of Uttarakhand Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts