Smita Bellur

Born to Shri K. L Subba Rao and Smt. Susheela Rao, I am the last of the three children. At the age of 4, my ability to repeat what I had heard on local radio had pleasantly surprised my parents. My first debut on stage in a public platform was at 7, for an inter-school competition in solo vocal singing. The image of a future vocalist was crystallizing in my little mind. While in class 4, I took Carnatik classical music lessons for a brief six months from a teacher nearby. When we relocated to a newer extension Bangalore, my father felt an urgent need to find a good guru who could shape talent.

 He was delighted when he found a revered teacher and Sangeet Natak Academy awardee - Shri P. R. Bhagwat to teach me. After hearing a brief song from me, he deemed me fit for his tutelage and soon started me on aBhavgeet alongside ‘sa-re-ga-ma’ alankars. At the age of twelve I got a formal initiation into Hindustani classical music in the Khayal system .

Foundation years 

For nearly six years Shri. P. R. Bhagwat, honed my skills in singing along with the nuances of the Kirana style of singing. Daily classes and intensive coaching gave me a strong foundation of raga, taal and the basic elements of alaap and taankaari. Although I did not reside there, I spent a lot of time in my Guru’s house, listening to classical and semi-classical music, practicing vocal as well as Harmonuim, learning photography, and even an occasional lesson in cookery/gardening (from my guru-ma, whom I fondly called ‘aayi’). In the true spirit of vidyadaan(imparting knowledge without a fee), my guruji bequeathed his invaluable music to me.

After schooling and pre-university college, it was time to decide what professional training I should take. Engineering tools and drawings had fascinated me from childhood, so I was keen to pursue a course in Engineering. Although artistry and engineering are not commonly pursued together, it evolved as a path that I would take.

While I was studying engineering at Bangalore, my guruji’s family had to move back to Dharwad. My TV recording for ‘Aralu Mallige’ – a programme for budding artistes had brought me in touch with the Nakod family at about the same time.  I approached the illustrious ‘Sangeet Ratna’, late Pt. Arjunsa Nakod for tutelage. 

Late Pt. ArjunSa Nakod, the doyen of Gwalior – Kirana Gharana, was a disciple of the legendary Ganayogi Pt. Panchakshari Gawai – the blind saint-musician from Gadag. Although he was so knowledgeable and venerable ('A Top' grade artiste of AIR Dharwad), Pt. ArjunSa was a patient, simple and kind guru. In the early days, he traveled to Bangalore to teach students, but later, I began traveling for taleem to Hubli. 

During my years of tutelage under him, I learnt ragas like Rageshri, Bhoop, Chandrakauns, Gorakh Kalyan, and Bihag. It was unfortunate that while I was still learning the nuances of his style of singing, he developed liver cancer and passed away in year 2000.

Having completed my Bachelors in Engineering, taking up a job, was the natural progression. Quality Assurance was my chosen area, in which I acquired a Certification from the QAI USA and later, a Masters of Science post-graduate degree from BITs Pilani. Working for a software company gave me some important insights into entrepreneurship, people skills, time management and a eye for quality.

Developing my own style

After the sad demise of Senior Pt. Nakod, I started training under his son, Pt. Bhalachandra Nakod at Hubli and also did a brief stint of light music training with Shri. Vishwanath Nakod.

I also took guidance from Pt. Rajabhau Sontakke from for a year, while doing my ‘Senior Diploma’ from Prayag Sangeet Samiti – Allahabad. Late Pt. Sontakke was a direct disciple of the legendary Sangeet Martand Pt. Omkarnath Thakur, and I learnt various nuances about Purya, Purya-Dhanashri, Malkauns from him. 

In my journey of music, the next turning point came when I was accepted as a disciple by the doyenne of the Jaipur Gharana - 'Gaan Saraswati', 'Sangeet Kaumudi' Dr. Alaka Deo Marulkar. Her style blends aesthetics with intellectual elements, making it appealing to both laymen and critics alike. With an intellect to match her creativity, Dr. Alaka soon became my idol for her exemplary 'planning, design and structure' in her raga presentation. Among the several elements of Jaipur gayaki I learnt from her were the quintessential treatment oflaya and the space between two matra's, concept-oriented vakra taan , and several jod-raga's. 

Once Pt. Prabhudev Sardar said, “A good guru never imposes his style on his disciple – rather he encourages his shishya to incorporate nuances into a unique style of his own.”

My gurus always encouraged me to incorporate nuances like taans, khatka, murki, intonation and style from the material I listened to, including my taleem; they allowed me to take to those elements of the gharana that I naturally took to. The emphasis was on wazan (maturity) in my singing. I draw a lot of inspiration from Jaipur artistes like Dr. Alaka Deo Marulkar, Vidushi Kishori Amonkar, and stalwarts like Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki when it comes to ‘badhat’ and ‘taans’.

Smita Bellur is a versatile Indian classical vocalist who specializes in the field of Hindustani Classical Khayal and traditional Sufi music. She is also adept at other genres such as Ghazal/Thumri/Chaiti and other semi-classical varieties. She has done collaborative work with folk and Jazz artistes in India and abroad.

 

A regular B 'High' artiste of All India Radio, Dharwad, she gave her first classical performance at the age of fourteen, at Rastrothana Parishat and since then has been performing at numerous music festivals, including:-

1. Raj Bhavan - Governor of Karnataka

2. Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural       Heritage,New Delhi

3. Urs Shareef, Saigon

4. India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

5. Bharat Sangeet Utsav – Bangalore

6. Sangeet Sankalp Pune – Sudarshan Rang Manch, Pune

7. Bangalore International Center (TERI Initiative)

8. Saptak – Ahmedabad

9. Swar Sadhana Samiti – Mumbai

10. Parthasarathy Sangeet Sabha – Chennai

11. Pt. Manmohan memorial festival – Jaipur

12. Bangalore Habba 2006

13. Nizar Kala Sansthan – Nagpur

14. Pt. ShankarRao Gaikwad Punyatithi, Pune

15. ‘Yuva Vandana ’, Sree Satya Sai Baba Ashram, Whitefield Bangalore

16. Sursagar – Bangalore

17. Pt. Sawai Gandharv Punyatithi– Kundgol

18. Asthavinayak Pratishtaan – Lathur(Maharastra)

19. Delhi Karnatak Sangha

20. 4th National Level “Bharat Ratna M S Subbulakshmi”           Memorial Music Festival - Gitanjali 2009 for Swami             Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana University

21. Pt. Omkarnath Thakur Smriti

22. Ustad Imammuddin Dagar Music festival – Jaipur

23. Sree Rama Seva Mandali - Fort High School – Bangalore

24. Avani Rasika Ranga – Dharwad

25. Indian Institute of World Culture – Bangalore

26. Shree Gururaghavendra Temple at Mantralayam – Andhra Pradesh

27. Dutta Gaana Sabha – Barshi (Maharastra)

28. ‘Samskrutika Sourabha’ at Ananya, Bangalore

29. Nadashri Sangeet Sabha – Hubli

30. Sangeet Pratishtana – Belgaum

31. SAP CIO Council – Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore

32. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

33. All India Saraswat Cultural programme – Goa

34. ‘Yuva Gana Mela’, Karnataka Ganakala Parishat, Mysore

35. Pt. Panchakshari Gawai Punyatithi at Shree Veereshwar Punyashram- Gadag

36. Rudrapatna Music festival – Hassan

37. Govt. of Karnataka, Department of Culture and Kannada         

*Music festivals:

1. ‘Chalukyotsav 2006’ – Aihole- Badami- Pattadkal

2. ‘Navraspur Utsav 2005’ – Bijapur

3. ‘Karavalli Utsav’, 2003 – Karwar, 2006 Mangalore

4. ‘Lakkundi Utsav’ 2006, Gadag

5. ‘Thingala Sobagu’, ‘Samskrutika Saurabha’ and ‘Yuva   Saurabha’ at Gadag, Haveri, Bellary, Bidar and Raichur.

*Recordings:-

Doordarshan I/Chandana - ‘Aralu Mallige’ and Doordarshan Sahyadri.

All India Radio, Dharwad

As news items: Etv, TV 9

Interview on Zee TV Kannada

Udaya TV ‘Naada’ (Sun TV Network)

TV9 - 1.5 Infotainment on my music called 'Jugalbandi'

For a French Documentary by the French organization Kalavistar

 *Smita has won many awards such as:-

1. Rotary's Vocational Excellence Award 2010

2. Sangeeta Shri 2007” award by Shraddha Sangeeta Kala Samiti, Bangalore

3. Dr. Pt. Puttaraj Gawai Kripa Bhushana Prashasti 2007” – Gadag.