BHUBANSESWAR: WHEN HIS father – an IPS officer – decided to name him as Sikandar – that is the Urdu version of Alexandar the Great who conquered the world - he must have prayed that his son should imbibe the qualities of the legendary warrior. And the prayer was certainly granted. Sikandar Alam not only ruled the world of Oriya music but conquered the hearts of millions for more than half a century notwithstanding the change in taste and time.
Called the Salabeg of modern Orissa, he was born to serve music and humanity as well. One of the five sons and three daughters of the strict disciplinarian IPS officer Mohammed Sayeed, Sikandar was asked to excel in academics. “Study first and everything next” – was the rule in the family. But elder brother’s affinity for the arts who would always hum songs at home- invoked the muse in him. By the time he got into the Christ College in Cuttack, he was in great demand among the City’s youth to sing songs of Mukesh.
Sikandar represented the State in the national youth festival in New Delhi in 1957 when he was 18 and by the time he was back in Orissa, he had resolved that he would listen to his heart and have music as a career. And there was no looking back. He applied for audition of the All India Radio, Cuttack and became an approved singer that made his touching tone familiar among one and all. Break in films followed soon with the evergreen devotional number “arata sure bare kare minatire” in Laxmi under none other than legendary music composer Balakrushna Dash. The teenaged singer’s debut song touched Kabichandra Kalicharan Patnaik, the doyen and promoter of Orissa’s performing arts who attended the music release ceremony of the film along with several stalwarts of music of the era. He was moved to tears.
Be it film or non film songs, Sikandar’s popularity soared with release of each album in Oriya, Hindi or Urdu. It was also the era that had star singers like Akshaya Mohanty and Pranab Patnaik. But like the Mukesh- Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar of Hindi film music, the trinity of Akshaya-Pranab-Sikandar grew up as the best of friends and professional rivals in a healthy competition contributing their best to Oriya music.
Sikandar had an impressive filmography of more than 50 films – very few films were made in Oriya those days – and most of the films are remembered today for their soulful songs besides being classics. He was an all time favourite for all the great lyricists and composers of times.
And his hundreds of songs for Lord Jagannath released by AIR and prominent music company like HMV earned him the title of Salabega of modern Orissa.
“When I sing songs for the Lord, I feel my Allah and Jagannath together,” confessed the singer on many occasions who never forgot to conclude his concert without saying “Jaya Jagannath”.
He even took great pride in singing at the annual devotional music concert (bhajan samaroha) staged at the gate of the Jagannath temple in Puri.
Known for his humility and great sense of humour, Sikandar was dearer to one and all till the end. He never preferred to share his agony and frustrations in life – be it his only son’s death, the negligence that was meted out to him by the film industry during the later part of his life or the delayed recognition from the State. Despite being the president of Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi – State’s apex body for performing arts – and in the core committee of several prominent cultural institutions, he never exploited his contacts and used his influence to promote his two talented daughters – actress Sophia and singer Nazia. “They are God’s greatest gifts for us. But me and my wife wanted them to have their own struggle and identity. And we also pray that they should serve the arts like us and be good human beings as well,” he used to say. True to his wishes, Nazia became the first Odissi singer to be conferred the coveted Ustad Bismilah Khan Yuva Prativa Pursakar this year from Government of India.
Sikandar Alam did not die. He merely disappeared from this mortal world. He would live through his music and the legacy that his daughters have vowed to carry forward.
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