Chandigarh, January 27
Puran Chand Wadali may have done the region proud by making it to the list of Padma Shri awardees this year, but the seasoned vocalist is not all that elated over the news.
Until yesterday he was celebrating the achievement, thinking it belonged both to him and his younger brother Pyare Lal who is as much indispensable for Puran Chand on stage as in life. But this morning did not dawn bright and gay in the ancestral home of the singers at Guru ki Wadali in Amritsar.
The reason is evident to those who have followed the Wadali brothers’ journey from Punjab’s akharas to the prestigious spaces of performance across the world. They have never pursued any musical ambition singly nor have they ever been separated in life, except on the Padma Shri award list which mentions only Puran Chand’s name. This is for the first time that the “jugalbandi” of Wadalis has been disregarded in the matter of conference of awards.
In 2003, the President of India jointly conferred the brothers, who have excelled in all genres from Sufiana qalaam and kaafis to bhajans and shabads, with the Sangeet Natak Akademi award.
But this year, the joy of reward stands shadowed by its limitation, which Puran Chand terms as “painful.” Illiterate as he is, he could not read the Government of India communique mentioning only his name and not his brother’s in the list of this year’s awardees. But now the brothers have consented to write to the Government to award both of them.
Says Chetan Joshi, their manager “Puranji was shocked to learn that the award is only for him. First he refused to believe it, then he broke into tears. This reminds us of the Singh brothers who render Gurbani. In their case too the Government had awarded only one brother, much to the displeasure of the other.”
Now that the Padma Shri has come his way, he is not so keen to mention it. In a telephonic interview to the Tribune, Puran Chand said, “Pyare Lal de bina eh award kuchh maane nahi rakhda. Sada taan janmaan da saath si; eh sarkaar ne kiven tod ta?” (Without Pyare Lal, this award means nothing. We are inseparable, how could the government think of separating us?) wondered Puran Chand, most well regarded for his impressive rendition of the verses of Sufi saints and his adorable presentation style which knows no bounds.
