Singer Pushpan Pradhan is well known for depicting the story of struggles and social issues through his songs. He came to Kathmandu from Dooars, West Bengal, India solely to tell stories.
“The thing that fascinated me about coming to Nepal is my love for the Nepali language,” says Pradhan, “I was confident that Nepali songs could uplift my career. It will also reach out to all Nepalis living in different parts of the world.”
Love for mother tongue
“All these things propelled me to come to Kathmandu,” he adds.
Everyone loves their mother tongue, and Pradhan was not an exception. He was very excited to hear the Nepali language when he went to Kakarvitta for the first time. The text in Nepali fonts on vehicles, hotels and streets made him additionally happy.
“I felt very happy to read a text that was written in my native language,” he says. “I studied in Nepali until grade 10, and during high school, I could not read in Nepali. At that time, my love for the Nepali language increased even more.”
Pradhan says that although there are geographical differences between Nepal, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Dooars, there are similarities in language and culture among these places.
Although coming from Dooars, West Bengal, Pradhan never felt like an outsider in Nepal.
While he could not get shows in his village, Nepal treated him differently.
Pradhan gives a huge credit to Kathmandu for his success in a musical career.
Different approach for comeback
On June 17, Pradhan will perform at Mandala Theatre in his style. He is performing the song of his choice.
“Every time, through my performance, I made people dance, but this never satisfied my soul,” says Pradhan. “I believe that the programme at Mandala Theatre will be of the kind that I always dreamed about.”
Pradhan’s songs include the voice of society and its pain. His song talks about the stories of foreign soil. Pradhan, who gained popularity from songs like Dhindhina and Panchi, is not much inclined towards love songs. However, he is aware that it is equally important to follow the trends otherwise life will be difficult.
The type of song Pradhan performs is usually not preferred during concerts. Currently, he does not get many opportunities to perform live.
“These days the programmes have become all about getting drunk. I am not interested in such programmes. I get invitations from only indoor and social programmes,” says Pradhan. “The way concerts are running these days does not fascinate me.”
Some friends humiliated Pradhan for getting a few shows to perform. “But I believe my journey has not yet started. It is just a warm-up. My journey is about to start from Mandala Theatre, Thapagaun, Kathmandu,” he says.
A few times back, Pradhan watched a show of Piyush Mishra in Kolkata, India. The patience that the audience in the programme had for one and half hours, amazed Pradhan.
He then had a realisation that his songs also had the potential to entertain audiences during the live shows.
“I realised that I had been performing in the wrong venues.” Pradhan has decided to do more indoor shows. “I have left doing shows in pubs,” he says, “And I will also always perform with the live band, and avoid karaoke.”
