Papia Sarwar (née Rahman, born on 21 November) is a Bangladeshi singer. She is an exponent of

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in ...

, the songs written and composed by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

. She earned

Rabindra Award The Rabindra Puraskar (also Rabindra Smriti Puraskar) is the highest honorary literary award given in the Indian state of West Bengal. This award is named after the famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and is administered by the Government of W ...

from

Bangla Academy The Bangla Academy ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি, ) is an autonomous institution funded by the Bangladesh government to foster the Bengali language, literature and culture, to develop and implement national language policy and to d ...

in 2013, Bangla Academy Fellowship in 2015 and

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...

in 2021.

Early life and education

Sarwar was born in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

. She took music lessons from Atiqul Islam, Waheedul Haq,

Sanjida Khatun Sanjida is a Bangladeshi feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Sanjida Islam Sanjida Islam ( bn, সানজিদা ইসলাম) (born 1 April 1996) is a Bangladeshi cricketer who plays for the Bangladesh women's ...

and Zahidur Rahim at

Chhayanaut The Chhayanaut Sangeet Vidyatan ( bn, ছায়ানট) is an institution devoted to Bengali culture, founded in Bangladesh in 1961. As in the case of many similar organizations, it was established during Pakistani rule in Bangladesh to prom ...

in 1966 and later at

Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts Bulbul Lalitakala Academy (now known as Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts or BAFA) is an institution of fine arts established in Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Ban ...

. She was a student of the Department of Zoology at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

. In 1973, she received a scholarship from the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

to study

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the ...

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

. In Visva-Bharati University, she was trained in classical music under Dhrubotara Joshi and in

under

Santidev Ghosh Santidev Ghose (also Santidev Ghosh, Shantidev Ghosh and Santideb Ghosh) (Santiniketan, 7 May 1910 – 1 December 1999) was an Indian author, singer, actor, dancer and maestro of Rabindra Sangeet. Sagarmoy Ghosh, the renowned editor of Bengal ...

, Subinoy Roy, Kanika Banerjee and

Nilima Sen Nilima Sen (28 April 1928 – 28 June 1996) was a famous Rabindrasangeet singer. Early life Nilima was born as Nilima Gupta in Kolkata, India on 28 April 1928. Her parents moved to Shantiniketan when she was six. She had her education there and ...

Career

Sarwar established a musical troupe named ''"Geetoshudha"'' in 1996.

Works

;Albums * ''Purna Chander Mayay'' (2013) * ''Chokher Dekha Praner Katha'' (2014)

Personal life

The fifth of eight children of Sayed Bazlur Rahman and Fatema Rahman, she has been married to Sarwar A Alam since 1978. Together they have two daughters: Zaara Sarwar, Assistant Professor of Biology in The College of New Jersey, and Jisha Sarwar, a public executive at the Canadian Ministry of Finance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarwar, Papia Living people People from Barisal Visva-Bharati University alumni 21st-century Bangladeshi women singers 21st-century Bangladeshi singers Rabindra Sangeet exponents Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy 20th-century Bangladeshi women singers 20th-century Bangladeshi singers 20th-century women composers Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Year of birth missing (living people)