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Briti Chatterjee sings Bangla folk songs on her handmade Dotara. This Durga Pujo, she is booked for 17 shows in pandals across Kolkata.
Listen in and marvel!
Briti Chatterjee's smile never leaves her face as she sings lilting verses in Bangla, strumming her dotara.
And if her eyes meet yours, her smile only widens further.
A student of music at the Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, the gifted folk singer arrives every morning at the Lalit Great Eastern Hotel before classes begin at the university dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore.
As guests pick from the lavish breakfast spread, Briti slowly walks up and down the Alfresco restaurant, strumming the beautiful string instrument, singing calming Bengali folk songs.
She walks past tables as natural light streams through the glass ceiling; drawing guests to her magical repertoire.
The daughter of a Bengali folk singer, Jiban Kishore Chatterjee, she moved to Kolkata three years ago to study and is continuing the family's music tradition.
She also plays other string instruments like the banjo and mandolin. Her dotara is made by Sankar Bal.
With Durga Pujo just a few days away, Briti will be giving performances at Raj Kutir, a Taj property, in the afternoon for four days and has been booked for a several cultural shows in various pandals with her group.
To keep her voice in good shape, she has ayurvedic tea with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and bay leaf.
In between songs, she sometimes chews on ginger.
"I do riyaz and sing freely. That is enough," she says.
Briti Chatterjee sings a beautiful Bengali folk song on the dotara
Videos edited by Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com