MEERA S. SASHITAL pays a tribute to Nirmala Devi Arun, the Queen of Thumris.
Among the cluster of great Hindusthani Light Classical vocalists the name of Nirmala Devi Arun stands apart. May be due to her modesty and unassuming nature she has been behind the screen. In the words of poet Wordsworth she has been like “A violet by a mossy stone-Half hidden from the eye!”
Nirmala Devi, also known as Nirmala Arun, was a Punjabi Hindusthani Classical Vocalist of the Patiala Gharana. She belonged to an extremely cultured family of Varanasi. She was taught all the fine Arts, including singing and dancing. She belonged to the Patiala Gharana having tutored under Ustad Atta Khan. Endowed with a gifted melodious voice she later carved a niche in the Hindusthani Light Cllassical Music world especially for Thumris.
Nirmala Devi was the wife of a popular actor of the 1940s named Arun Ahuja. She had five children, including actor Govinda and director Kirti Kumar. Arun Ahuja and Nirmala Devi first met during the making of film ‘Savera’ in which they were cast opposite each other. They married in 1941. Her talent and ingenuity gave her scope of being a playback singer and for many pictures for example ‘RamTeri Ganga Maili (1985). “Bawarchi” (1972), ‘Zara Bachke (1959) etc.,she did playback singing as Nirmala Arun.
According to Nirmala Devi, Arun Ahuja was a veteran actor of yesteryears having acted in many films including Mehboob Khan’s “Aurat” opposite Sardar Akhtar. Even Nirmala Devi seems to have acted in a few films opposite Motilal, Ulhas,Bharat Bhushan and of course her husband Arun Ahuja.
However, disaster struck when Arun Ahuja decided to make a film. The only film Ahuja produced was a flop. Huge financial losses were incurred plunging them into an extremely mediocre standard of living forcing them to shift to Ville Parle. But when things got worst they were compelled to shift to a chawl in Virar where Nirmala Devi’s son Govinda, the now well-known Bollywood actor, was born and who lived and spent most of his life there.
Unable to bear the loss Arun Ahuja’s health failed. The family once living in a bungalow in Mumbai’s posh Carter Road had to live in a chawl in Virar as told above. Since Ahuja was unable to work, Nirmala Devi had to bring up the children through hard times. This is when Nirmala Devi realized that something had to be done, and that too fast, to support the family of six children – two sons and four daughters Nirmala Devi started singing with renewed fervour. She sang on the Radio and Doordarshan. She held her concerts all over the country being a well-known exponent of Hindusthani Classical Music. However, she could not perform abroad as it would have meant leaving her family for a long period of time.
She regaled the music lovers with her rapturous Thumris, Dadras and Kajris with their intricate modulations. Her song “Ro Ro Raina Gavaye’ is well-known. Again her song “Tumhare Karan Saba Sukh Choda” is so poignant and veracious that one cannot help visualizing and getting merged with her pathos. She had the pleasure of singing a duet with Lakshmi Shankar too (Sawan Bitha Jai).
Her range and high pitch of voice is remarkable. Her Bhajans for example “Bhaktanake Hitakari Hari Tum” or any Bhajan you take are sung with such deep feelings that they touch the inner core of your heart. Her rich and pliable vibrant voice mellowed with her own suffering may be the outcome of such soul-stirring renderings! Her rendering of songs transcend us and ring in our ears for many hours after we have heard them.
We are told Nirmala Arun was very religious. She would spend considerable time in performing puja. The good Sanskars with upbringing she had given to her children are reflected in their lives. It seems she was full of praise for her son Govinda while speaking with the interviewer.
Nirmala Devi had disagreed that the stupendous success of her son must have surely changed the man. She had expressed he may be doing triple shifts but every morning before leaving home he would sit with his mother and do Puja. She was extremely fond and proud of her son Govinda and told that her son was an excellent artiste. As a hero he was very good but as for dancing there was no one to touch him! Nirmala Devi, we learn, had renounced all material comforts and relations long ago. She was deeply religious and adhered to the teachings of her Guru. She was a simple woman but religious and a devotee of Music. Music was divine to her otherwise how could she ever sing such songs, Thumris or Devotional, piercing our hearts? She passed away in 1996. But undoubtedly, Nirmala Devi Arun even today reigns as the Queen of Thumris in the music world and in our hearts. Being a lover of music, I pay my tributes and make my obeisance to her!
(Based on an interview
by Mukta Hegde)
