Singer Rekha Dhasmana Uniyal
People interested in Garhwali-Kumauni music and film must have heard the name ‘Rekha Dhashmana’ (Uniyal). For last 10 years she has been actively devoting her time and talent to Garhwali-Kumauni songs and music. She has not only given her voice to dozen of cassettes and two films but has also given stage performances in dream lands like Delhi and Mumbai. She was born in Delhi and persuaded her education like a delhite But always had mountains in her head and heart. Her whole family is an appreciator of folk music and theater. She has been singing since childhood seeing her talent her elder brother encouraged her to go ahead with her passion for singing. Her cousin Rajendra Dhashmana a famous theater artist inspired her to sing.
Though she grew up in a completely different environment of Delhi she had a knotted attachment with her roots and culture. In the beginning she took singing as a hobby but after getting married in 1988 to Rajesh Uniyal son of famous writer, composer, journalist Dharmanand Uniyal her vision changed. Her father-in-law inspired her to learn classical music. After getting married she stayed in Mumbai for few years and gave her voice in two Garhwali films ‘Beti-bwari and Batwaru’. She also sang for Hindi television film Sanskar during her stay in Mumbai.
Her first cassette which came out in the market in 1985 was in Kumauni. This was just the beginning of her journey. Soon she sang with well known Kumauni folk singer like Gopal Babu Goswami and Mohan Singh Mansal. All her songs were loved by the listeners but ‘mera baju ranga-rang’ was one of the biggest hits. With her first cassette in Garhwali she too won the hearts of her Garhwali listeners. The song ‘chaar dina ki dhakadhum’ made her popular among the people of Uttarakhand. After this she sang with famous Garhwali singer like Jagdish Bkrola and Kishan Singh Panwar. She ruled the hearts of the people of Uttarakhand by singing songs like ‘Nayo-nayo byo ch’ with Narendra Singh Negi. On the other side her new casettle ‘jukham lagyon cha’ with Jagdish Bakrola became a big hit and took her to the peak.
Beside her commercial cassettes and songs she too actively participated in creating public awareness in Uttarakhand. She recorded songs on the earthquake devastation that shakes Garhwal and Uttarakhand Aandolan. Her husband Rakesh Uniyal said that after knowing all this she could’nt stay calm and requested famous writer Devi Prasad Semwal to write a song. He told that he himself produced the cassette and got it recorded in a studio in Mumbai. A song from this cassette “Didi bhuliyon agney aawa aaj tum” ran on the lips of everyone.
Courtesy - from Rekha Dhasmana ji web site -
http://rekhauniyal.com/?page_id=46
