The women return their loan before due time. "According to the bank managers, the recovery rate from the members of these groups is an impressive 98 per cent. These self-help groups have created such a faith and credibility with the banks that getting loans hundreds of thousands of rupees today is not a problem for them. Earlier, they were compelled to deposit their jewellery to local lenders for borrowing money. Women can today borrow money in their challenging times like child delivery, medical treatment of children, and field-work. Several of these self-help groups today lend money to other needy groups on minimum interest rates. I met her a couple of times and she came across as a very affectionate person who kept note of all happenings in the present music world.Shamshad Begum ensured setting up of 1,041 self-help groups in Durg district, which was five times higher than the proposed number of 200 groups by district authorities.īelieve it or not, today about 10 million rupees of these self-help groups is deposited in separate banks. Of course the credit also should go the music composers of that era. Today’s songs and singers are forgotten within six months. Even after 50-60 years of recording, her songs like Kajra mohabbat wala, Kahin pe nigahen kahi pe nishaana, Mere piyan gaye Rangoon, Bhooj mera naam kya re continue to be demanded at our live musical shows. And actually she should be attributed to the popularisation of pop music. Suresh Wadkar (singer, music composer and teacher): “Shamshad Begum had an unparalleled voice. She was one of the greatest singers of that era.” And there is no meaning in comparing her with present-day singers. Her voice quality and strength was unimaginable.
Otherwise we get some singers whose words aren’t clear at all.”Īnuradha Paudwal (playback singer and winner of many awards): “Shamshad Begum was a doyen of Hindi film music of that era.
Her best quality besides her dedication and tonal quality was her pronunciation of each word. Her forte was folk, but she excelled even in pop songs. The best part about Shamshad Begum was that she could sing any song. She worked a lot with Naushad Ali and O.P. Khayyam (music composer of Kabhi Kabhi, Umrao Jaan and several others, winner of several awards including the prestigious Padma Bhushan): “Though I had worked with her on three songs but for some reason the songs never got released. Another quality of her which mesmerised me was her ever smiling and affable nature.” Though Shamshad Ji was never formally trained in music, her hold on the songs was amazing. Though we had different quality of voices - she had a strong voice and I have a soft one - when we sang, we blended well.
But never allowed her seniority to affect me and helped me with my initial songs. He had sung with Shamshad Begum in eight films such as Mirza Ghalib, Love in Shimla etc.): “She was very senior to me.
Sudha Malhotra (winner of this year’s Padma Shree award. That day I really wished I was 30-years-older so I could perhaps have worked with her.” In our meeting she spoke about my way of composing, singing and music which really made my day. She came across as a gentle, humble and affectionate person. Her desire to meet me personally was one of the highlights of my life. Shankar Mahadevan (music composer, singer and winner of several awards): “Begum sahiba was a doyen among singers. Here, members of the Bollywood film industry remember the artist, who was also a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the second highest Indian civilian award Shamshad Begum who ruled the Indian film world for more than four decades recently died at the age of 94 in Mumbai.