The forgotten vocalist - the gifted folk artist and freedom fighter from Bangladesh
The forgotten vocalist Faizul Khan Tanim converses with Khurshid Alam, a gifted folk artist and freedom fighter, whose voice still possesses a magnetic quality despite his physical and economic hardship photo by Momena Jalil While most still remember the songs Holudia Pakhi and O Padma Nodi Re, it is a pity that they have forgotten Khurshid Alam, a man who played a part in making them popular. Khurshid, a freedom fighter and one of the most gifted vocalists of our nation in the folk genre, now lives a life of misery, suffering from a dislocated hipbone for over a decade, and immersed in the memories of his glory days. Unable to accumulate a sum of around Taka 60,000, as prescribed for an operation by the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation at Sher-e-Bangla nagar, he survives hand-to-mouth by selling tea near the Sadarghat Bangla Bazar and relives his golden days singing at customers’ requests. He describes that his fall from grace was triggered by his acci...