JALPAIGURI: Centurion folk artist Mangala Kanti Roy, who plays a bowed instrument, 'Sarinja', said that he was happy to have been chosen for Padma Shri, but lamented the art form never fetched him any financial security.
A resident of remote Dhawlaguri village in Jalpaiguri, Roy recalled that he had started playing the instrument when he was just five years old.
Having mastered the art of extracting bird calls and other animal sounds at an early age, he reproduces these with his instrument, much to the delight of the audience.
"I am happy to have got this honour, but financial secularity has always eluded me despite my commitment to the art form," the 101-year-old folk artiste, who leads a very modest life in his village, said.
He rued the deterioration in his living condition owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, with calls for performances at cultural events and programmes have dried up over the past two years.
The artiste has three sons and one daughter but lives alone.
"I just want to leave the world without much suffering," he said.
Roy was conferred 'Banga Ratna' by the Mamata Banerjee government in 2017.