By Mona Lisa Jena
It was a starlit full moon night at Konark. With the enigmatic temple as the backdrop for the Konark Dance and Music Festival, the auditorium had a connoisseur's gathering. Pretty Nazia Alam was the solo performer in Odissi singing and rendered Gita Govinda.

As her dulcet voice in alaap moved to cast its magic, the audience went into raptures clapping incessantly. Her "Kesi Mathana Udaram…" from the Gita Govinda was equally adorable. The silken verve in her voice and the perfect pronunciation of Sanskrit verse vibrated in the audience.

She was felicitated with warm appreciation by the eminent lyricist and present Vice Chancellor of Ravenshaw University Devdas Chhotray at the end of her sterling performance.

There was the great Kathak maestro, Pandit Birju Maharaj, as well as the Gajapati king of Puri, Maharaja Dibyasingha Deva with his queen, the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, eminent singers like Guru Ramahari Das, flutist Mohini Mohan Pattanayak, dancers, officials—all with glowing words for Nazia's singing calibre.

Odissi music exponent Guru Rama Hari Das said: "Nazia is probably the most talented female singer of Orissa excelling in traditional Odissi singing and Hindustani Classical. Being the daughter of a great singer, Sikandar Alam, she has inherited the tradition and culture of singing, she is committed to music and devotes herself to pure singing. I have great hopes in her future."

Gadadhar Mahapatra, an exponent of the Gita Govinda said Nazia's performance was outstanding; she cast a spell on the select audience.

Omprakash Mohanty, the music director of All India Radio was all praise for Nazia's soulful renderings. Maharaja Dibyasingha Dev and his queen are ardent fans of Nazia's Odissi singing.

“I had heard Nazia's singing two days earlier, at the Mukteswara Dance Festival where she rendered the vocal accompaniment for Odissi danseuse Meera Das's captivating dance performance. I had also noticed how a foreigner in the audience was clicking pictures of her. Her voice has the honeyed flavour,” he commented.

At 25 Nazia sings devotional songs, modern songs, ghazals and film songs with equal aplomb. Sikandar Alam said humbly: “I felt shy when many eclectic women among the audience come and congratulate me on my daughter's performance saying, Bap se beti badhkar gaati hey...”

Nazia, a topper all along in studies, is into singing at her mother Naima Alam's insistence that she should devote herself to it, and does riyaz every day for hours together. She is versatile, and at ease with different languages like Oriya, Bengali, Urdu and Hindi.

She has obtained many qualifications in music and continues her research simultaneously in the Gita Govinda and higher Hindustani music in Kolkata under the tutelage of Ustaad Mahshoor Ali Khan Sahab of Kirana Gharana of ITC Sangeet Natak Akademi. She is a dedicated singer with a promising future.