Haimanti Shukla

Her name is her introduction, a musical rhythm , a phenomenon in music in the hearts of the thousands of music lovers. She is Haimanti Sukla. Born on 02.02.1949 , singing came to her naturally at a very tender age owing to her celebrity father, the very well known Late Pt. Harihar Shukla. The tradition of Indian Classical Music in her family , helped her in developing the foundation for music in her golden voice. The charm in her voice was soon recognized in the year 1972 with her first recording " E to kanna noy aamar " lyrics and music given by the famous Shailen Mukhopadhyay and Pulak Bandhopadhyay. But much before that she had carved out a special image for herself in the sections of Khayal, Thumris and Bhajans being a regular performer on the AIR. Though there was depth and charm in her voice she too had to go through hard times in the process of making a firm ground for herself in the industry. Then came a chance in her life that changed everything for her.A chance rendered to her by her Patron Pulak Bandhyapadhyay and the famous singer Manna Dey. The song was supposed to be sung by Manna Dey himself but he made way for this budding singer and the song " Aamar bolaar kichu chilo na " became an instant hit and is still a very popular number. Haimanti Shukla did utmost justice to the song and made it an ever green score. It was her magical voice and her undiminished sincerity in music that she became a favorite of the likes of musical maestros Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pt Ravi Shankar, Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Alla Rakha Khan and Naushad. Apart from these exponents of classical music , great composers like Hemanta Mukherjee, Salil Chaudhuri and Manna Dey scored memorable music for her. She has got a number of film and non-films songs to her credit. It is quite natural that such an artist will be honoured with a number of awards and accolades. To name a few are the Sur Sringer Academy award for her song " Kahan se aaye badra " in the hindi film "Chasme Baddor" in 1981. She is also a proud recipient of Mian Tansen Award awarded to her in the year 1975. Haimanti Shukla has a history of three decades of a successful musical profession. Yet she is considered to be one of the modern singers of today. From Classical Music to Modern songs - she performs it with a seemingly effortless manner that has made her so popular among all classes of music lovers.