Folk Queen Of Her Times

Shrestha was a popular folk singer during her active years

By THAKUR AMGAI

Behind the under-construction multi-story complex of National Cultural Center – popularly known by its previous name National Theatre, stands a building – old and crumbling. Flakes of paint crumbling from the walls and the carvings on the windows and doors. Dilapidated musical instruments and furniture lying here and there fills the dark-damp rooms and corridors. Seated in one of these rooms, Kamala Shrestha recalls her old days – the days of struggle.

“Who might have struggled like us in the music industry?” says Shrestha. “It was the time when people joyfully listened to the songs from Radio and in the cultural functions, but looked down upon the same singers in society.”

The new generation engrossed in the ‘pop’, ‘rock’ and ‘hip-hop’ culture or in particular the young lady singers privileged with the liberty to choose a career of their choice and pursue their passion unobstructed might know little about Kamala Shrestha and the hurdles the female singers of those days went through.

However, the National Theatre, the old studio at Radio Nepal , and the dabalis in Kathmandu are well acquainted with Kamala Shrestha and her melodious voice. Her life has gone a similar transformation that these historic institutions have gone through. The days when Kamala Shrestha used to be a top folk singer, a celebrity wherever she went, and even the members of the Royal family stopped their conveyance in the middle of the cavalcade to smile at Shrestha walking on the street, are only in memories now. Just like the way National Theatre is displaced by other halls equipped with advanced technology, beautiful songs of the old age have been displaced by the ‘rock’, ‘pop’ and other genres of the new generation.

However, without the large number of songs, particularly folk duets, that Kamala contributed to Nepali music industry through her relentless perseverance, the heritage of Nepali folk music would not have been so rich. Although, behind the center stage at present, Shrestha has created an identity that will remain immortal in the history of Nepali music.

Shrestha’s singing career began in early 1960s when she sang the song ‘Nepali Janatako Rahar, Hararara Gudne Bho Motor’ in chorus. It was the time when the construction of east-west Mahendra Highway was the talk of the town. Ustad Bhairab Bahadur Thapa, who had noticed a flair for singing and a melodious voice of Shrestha at the Department of Cottage and Small Industries took her to Radio Nepal to sing the song.

After she passed the voice test singing a Hindi song, Shrestha started singing more songs in Radio Nepal . With songs like ‘Gharbeti Nani Anganima Deuna Malai Bas’, ‘Sohra Barsha Pugisake Phool Magmagaunchha’, ‘Ek Phera Hasera Bolidiye Po, Yo Dil Dinechhu Rakhidiya Po’, ‘Khoji Pani Deu’, among others, Kamala Shrestha soon became a household name in Nepal. Most of the songs she sang in the early days, however, could not be recorded. The first song she recorded was ‘Ma Sapana Bhari Chhu’ composed by Gopal Yonjan. Over the years she has sung over 400 songs and performed at various functions of the National theatre, Royal Nepal Academy and others. Now, in her early fifties, Shrestha has spent more than two-thirds of her life at the National Cultural Corporation.

In 2024 B.S., she won the best female vocal award at the Nationwide Annual Singing Contest at Radio Nepal singing the song ‘Naugediko Mero Mala Timi Kahan Khasyo Ki’ written by Yadav Kharel and composed by Natikaji. Later she was honored with the ‘Chalchitra Samman’ in 2050 and ‘Shubha Rajyabhisek Award’.

Shrestha was born in 2009 B.S. in Mahabouddha, Kathmandu , Shrestha would listen to songs from the Radio and mimic it for herself in her early childhood. After she grew older she became affiliated with cultural associations like ‘Nasa Khala’ and ‘Kala Kendra’ and would perform songs in the dabalis in various functions.

She was so obsessed to singing and cultural performances that she would leave anything aside to participate in them. “Once my father was very ill. I had to go for a performance in Kala Kendra. Everyone had asked me not to leave the sick father for the performance. I went for the performance despite the situation. When I came back from the performance my father had already died,” Shrestha recounts her poignant story.