Enriching musical repertoire

SD Sharma

Chandigarh, April 28

Punjabi folk and Sufi singer Dolly Guleria (70) has been carrying forward the rich legacy of her illustrious mother and mentor Surinder Kaur, who is affectionately known as ‘Nightingale of Punjab’ by music aficionados world over.

With her commanding excellence, expertise and versatility in performing and propagating myriad genres of music for over five decades, Dolly, the foremost disciple of late Ustad Abdul Rehman of Patiala gharana, has won accolades for her performances in over a dozen countries.

On the Covid-19 pandemic, she said, “My heart goes out to all those who are suffering for no fault of theirs, but at the same time, the nature seems to have reprimanded us all of our forgotten duties and responsibilities. God and the nature have always been kind to us, but are we reciprocating with gratitude?”

She said her sons Dilpreet and Amanpreet, who work with MNCs, had hardly any time to stay with them, but now constrained by prevailing circumstances, they were with her.

“My day begins with gardening and watering of plants, which I do with my husband Col SS Guleria. Then I do ‘riyaz’. Since my disciples can’t visit me due to the Covid outbreak, I answer their queries online. In the absence of domestic help, I experiment with varied dishes. In the evening, I play ‘rummy’ with my husband for one hour before reciting ‘Rehras Sahib’. Besides, I enrich my musical repertoire by reviving and revising the ‘ragas’ and compositions taught to me by my gurus in the past,” she said.

“I am making the most of the quarantine time by introspecting, analysing and evaluating the life experiences that nourished my psyche and ideals to take up new challenges in life,” Dolly added.