Kolkata :

She has been playing the tabla since the age of three. At 32, Kolkata-based Rimpa Siva has been bestowed the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2017 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Needless to say, Rimpa is thrilled with the announcement and is hoping that her recognition will inspire other girls to play the tabla.

Speaking to TOI, Rimpa said she was pleasantly surprised with the announcement. “I didn’t even know that I was nominated for this award. I came to know about my win only after congratulations starting pouring in. I feel privileged to be getting the award on the same year when the Akademi Puraskar will be given to Haimanti Shukla and Parvathy Baul from Bengal,” said Rimpa, who had bagged first class first degrees during both her graduation and master’s from Rabindra Bharati University.

Awards, however, aren’t new to Siva. Known as a child prodigy, she has already won the President’s Award from APJ Abdul Kalam in 2007, Shanmukha Sangeetha Shiromani Award in 2004 and Anunraj Memorial Fund award from Norway in 1996. Rimpa dedicates the credit for her performance to the guidance received from her father, Pt Swapan Siva.

“Whatever I am now is a result of the blessings and teachings of my father,” she said. At 14, she had first accompanied Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia on a concert tour to the US. Since then she has been playing with stalwarts. In 1999, a 26-minute documentary film titled “Rimpa Siva: Princess of Tabla” was made in France.

There was a time when Rimpa would face questions about why she had picked up an instrument that was traditionally a favourite with men. After performing the world over and now, having won this award, she finds this question irrelevant. “People feel that since women’s fingers are delicate, they might not be suitable for playing the tabla.

But, I have proved them wrong. I’m glad that other women tabla players including Reshma Pandit and Mitali Khargonkar are also coming up now,” said the player from the Farukhabad gharana who is known for playing Ustad Karamatullah Khan’s intricate “kata gheghe tete kata” composition at a very high speed.

The 32-year-old has also come up with an instrumental band called Nari Shakti. “Apart from me on the tabla, we have Pamela Banerjee on pakhawaz, Nibedita Ghosh on sitar and Atri Mazumdar on vocals. However, we are still trying to find good female santoor and sarangi players for our band,” she said. On being asked about her thoughts on World Music Day, she said she is hoping that more and more women instrumentalists come to the forefront. “It’s time for more women to break the glass ceiling,” she signed off.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Kolkata News / by Priyanka Dasgupta / TNN / June 20th, 2018