Odisha Man Garners Praise In Sufi World

Kendrapara: Odia youth Prakash Chandra Rout Rajput is now a rising star in the world of Sufi. Prakash, who hails from Kochila village in Kendrapara district, has shared stages with the great Punjabi singers like Hansraj Hans and Gurdas Maan.

The singer has composed over 60 Sufi songs in a decade’s time and has won many laurels for it. Apart from composing, he has sung some of his compositions. Some ventures where he sang are for Punjabi film called Carry on Jatta and a couple of television series Kamaal Karta and Shaan Punjabi.

“I have performed for an audience that included the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Sheila Dikshit at a programme organized at Shalimar Bagh in Delhi,” said Prakash.

However, he has a struggle behind the achievement. He has to work as a factory teacher to pursue his dream.

He said that he had a passion for singing since his childhood.

In his initial days of learning, he started training under a local singer with the name of Anadi Bal.

The 38-year old Prakash took admission in Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyala after matriculation to follow his passion for music. However, he could not keep up with his education due to the poor financial condition of his family.

Then, he left his village when he was 17 and went to Rajasthan to find work that had meager pay. It was only his brief stint in Kolkata that he was able to find his tune back for music when he started training with the city based singer Pradip Chatterjee.

“After I moved to Delhi, I started learning classical music from Ustad HC Khare and Tabla from Quaymant Ali Khan between 1998 and 2000.I was also working as a factory worker and a part-time music teacher that paid no more than Rs 500” said the Sufi singer.

He said that situation took a turn for good in Nepal where he was spotted by established Punjabi Sufi singer Ustad Sardar Harbinder Singh Billa at an event in a local Gurudwara.

“I never looked back from that day onwards and have reached here where I am now,” said Prakash, who is now settled at Bhogapur in Jalandhar of Punjab.