Kavita Seth Soulful Singer

Day before yesterday, I attended a programme at Taj Lands End, where IBN7 awarded bunch of physically challenged people who have established themselves in various walks of life fighting against all odds. I will talk about this event later. But one of the attraction of this event was few songs sung by sufi singer Kavita Seth. She mesmerized the audience with her soulful rendering of Javed Saheb's

'ओ रे मनवा तू तो बावरा है,
तू ही जाने तू क्या सोचता है,
 तू ही  जाने तू क्या सोचता है बावरे,
क्यों दिखाए सपने सोते जागते ' from movie 'Wake Up Sid'

and Gulzar Saheb's

'मोरा पिया मो से बोलत नाहीं' from movie 'Rajneeti'.
Kavita has really arrived and established on music scene. Listening her soulful songs on stage took me back exactly five and half year back when through some reference she came to our house with her husband, and gave me  her demo CD .At my place, she rendered few songs, I saw potential of  Abida Parveen in her because she also sing with  Khula Gala and her voice is very raw, gives rustic effect. After she left, I told my wife that if she get proper push she will rock.    

She is from a Khatri family of Bareilly, incidentally same Mohalla where my wife has also stayed.  Right from her childhood days, she was very keen to sing, family encouraged  her to learn in a systematic manner. After marriage she was shifted to Delhi and continued to sing.  She used to sing  on All India Radio Delhi as well as at some obscure Sufi Music Festivals.  Her husband  was very supportive and always encouraged her to seriously persue  her passion into her career. He was     working   for Airport Authority of India (AAA), Delhi. But he soon realised that if  Kavita has to catapult her career then Mumbai is the right place to struggle and work. He applied and  managed his transfer to Mumbai. This is how Kavita has come in the ringside of music industry.

I had almost forgotten Kavita, but during Filmfare Awards function 2010, I was delighted to see her among  the shortlisted nominee in female playback singer category for her Wake Up Sid song Ektara. My wife was with me at the function, she was surprised. Her reaction was very unusal, oh,  a lady from my Mohalla has reached that level!  But surprise of surprise was yet to come. She was declared the best playback singer. It was no mean achievement, in a array of established singers, suddenly somebody come on the top with a single hit , that is her power of singing.

Kavita has to go a longway.  She has to touch new height in her career. But to achieve  this,  she must choose her songs carefully. To my mind, best singer's award came not only due to her own rendering, voice quality, andaz but equally because of good lyrics !