Kangalini Sufia: The voice of the deprived

Kangalini Sufia, a well-known folk singer, has a social mission as well — conveying the hard reality of the downtrodden and underprivileged women through her songs. Her common themes are inequality, oppression and exploitation that women face everyday.
The artiste (now 50) was born at Ramdia village of greater Faridpur (currently in the Rajbari district). Hailing from an impoverished Hindu family, her father was Khokon Halder and mother Tulu Halder.
As a young girl, she stood apart from her peers, as she wanted to sing constantly. At the age of 14 or 15, she began singing at village functions and was received with resounding applause. She married Sudhir Halder. Three years after the Liberation War, she converted to Islam and took on the name Sufia Khatun.
Sufia, made her stage appearance with her unique style, though she initially emulated the well-known Ustad Halim Boyati and Aynal Boyati of Faridpur.
Mustafa Monwar, the former DG of Shilpakala Academy, christened her “Kangalini Sufia” and she later attained fame with this name across the country.
Kangalini Sufia is a regular artiste of Bangladesh Betar and BTV as well as various private channels. Apart from Bangladesh, she has performed in the UK, South Korea, Qatar, Italy, Hong Kong, US, Thailand, China and India. She usually performs with a five-member troupe that includes Baul Jahangir, Baul Mander Fakir, Pushpo (Sufia’s sister), Chumki Kangalini (Sufia’s granddaughter) and Bilkis Banu.
Sufia’s second husband, Baul Sekom is a dotara player and lives in London where he works.
Sufia has some volumes of songs to her credit, the most popular ones being “Narir kachhe keu jaiyo na,” “Nari kul-e jonmo nia theklam bhison dai,” “Bandhu bichched,” “Antokatha,” “Poran-er bandhob re” and “Konba pothey Nitaigonj-e jai.” Laser Vision, Soundtec, Sangeeta, Concord are the studios that have released her albums. She has also done playback for three films: “Darodi Shatru,” “Agun” and “Raj Shinghashon.”
Sufia expressed her gratitude to both the Premier Sheikh Hasina, Khaleda Zia and well wishers for extending support to her when she was laid low by an illness.
In conclusion, Kangalini Sufia said, “I’m grateful to my audience for their constant support and appreciation, I am also indebted to those who have given me the opportunity to sing on stage.”

Courtesy of The Daily Star