Bharati Group, a women-centric musical band from Karimganj, Assam started its journey in 2016. This group became the first musical band of Barak Valley of Assam fully organized by some female members. Known for their musical precession, versatility, and innovation, Bharati Group has been walking this path for some time now. There recent works on the indigenous music of the Barak valley are worth mentioning.
Run by all-female musicians; some still students in their respective academic field Arjayeeta Paul, Ankita Purkayastha, Sanghamitra Chakraborty, Sushmita Das, Mohana Chakraborty, Isha Sinha, Karanika Dey, Mallika Das Choudhury and Rageshree Das Choudhury. They are always been supported by their Group’s president Krishna Kamal Goswami in every possible ways.
Bharati Group made its first appearance on the stage of Book Fair, Karimganj on 8th December 2016. Their mentor Mallika Das Choudhury has been a pillar and guide since the very beginning. Under her tutelage, Bharati Group in recent years has explored the intricacies of both classical and folk music. An interesting mix of instruments like Tabla, Harmonium, Flute, Keyboard, Guitar, Ukelele, etc can be seen in their performances, some of them being self-taught by the musicians themselves. Since 2016, Bharati Group has been part of both national and international musical platforms.
Bharati Group has performed extensively Karimganj along with Silchar, Badarpur, Patharkandi, Hailakandi, Kolkata, Agartala. In 2017 they had a performance on the India-Bangladesh Sutarkandi border, Karimganj on the occasion of Republic Day and the cultural meet of respective Countries.
They also perform at a historical site, Maleghar, known for Sepoy Mutiny(1857). Recently they have performed for an online platform in Bangladesh. During the lockdown, they became more active on social media platforms. They did launch many covers and originals. YOG sang YOG is one of their most loved originals that they launched on 21st June 2020 on the occasion of International Yoga Day and World Music Day. In mid-October, 2020 they launched their cover of the most traditional song Jaya Jaya Japya.
Recently, their Instrumental Cover of the very known Rabindra Sangeet Esho Shyamolo Shundoro has reached a very huge mass of people and great media coverage.
Their initial recording started with cellphone recording and videography accessed by them only. One of the problems that Bharati Group faces is distance. All the members are personally from a different genre. Some being students and some were working which led some of them to shift to Silchar or Guwahati.
This Independence day, they have launched a new original of them namely Ananya written and composed by their mentor Smt Mallika Das Choudhury. The song speaks about the beauty of the Nation and focuses on the theme Go Green They believe India is Ananya which means different from others.
(Story edited by Amrita Das ).
