Kamla Srivastava

An 88-year-old artist from Lucknow, Prof. Kamla Srivastava, has worked in music through different classical and folk art forms. At the age of 7, she got inspired by the music teacher of her elder sister. Intriguingly, on a fine day, her teacher was teaching vocals to her elder sister and heard Prof. Kamla singing from the other room. She dazzled the music teacher with her ability to pick up music and her vocal strengths, that too, just by listening to the classes her sister attended. The teacher identified her talent and supported her desire to learn music. She has been working hard towards achieving mastery in her craft and pursues it with enthusiasm ever since. She considers Dr S N Yamkar and Prof. Govind Narayan Natu as her gurus and speaks very highly of their teaching and achievements in the field of music. She also believes that music is a gift from her family and has a natural talent for mastering the art of singing. She has primarily belonged to the Gwalior Gharana of music and is particularly fond of Raga Yaman and Malkansh. She also knows how to play the Tabla, Sarangi, Harmonium apart from possessing an incredible vocal ability and has performed in various locations within the country. She has received over 50 awards and titles, including the Yash Bharti award. She regards her performance in Goa as the most memorable experience as she did not expect that the audience to accept such a diverse taste in music. She pursued her BA in Education in the year and eventually did her MA in Geography. She went on to work at the education department as a Geography professor at Mirzapur and got married in the year 1962. In 1980, she was called upon at Bhatkhande University to join as an Assistant Professor in Music and retired to become a visiting professor in 1991. She lives with her brother-in-law and has a son, a daughter-in-law, and a granddaughter. Despite her old age, she is the kind of person who is as bubbly as an 18-year-old, and her sense of humour will cheer you up within seconds. Quick wit comes to her naturally, as she creates an impact not only in the field of music but also in the lives of people that meet her.

• Awadh