Vocalist Maithili Thakur and her two brothers on being Election Commission’s brand ambassadors in Madhubani | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

Vocalist Maithili Thakur and her two brothers on being Election Commission’s brand ambassadors in Madhubani | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

Written by Suanshu Khurana |Updated: April 29, 2019 12:53:15 pm

Vocalist Maithili Thakur and her two brothers on being Election Commission’s brand ambassadors in Madhubani

The three young musicians are presenting songs of yore, some of which are sung by classical singers, mostly from the Banaras gharana, apart from folk songs.

(From left) Ayachi, Maithili and Rishav Thakur (Praveen Khanna)

It was almost a year ago that 18-year-old Maithili Thakur, along with her younger brothers Rishav (15) and Ayachi (12), decided to archive the songs they’d heard from their grandmothers on both sides, and their father, a music teacher. Some of these songs were learned in Darbhanga and Uren, Madhubani, both in Bihar. “We wanted people to listen to the beautiful world of Bhojpuri folk, that’s melodious and has wonderful lyrics. Ye theth Bhojpuri hai. Ise sunna bhi zaroori hai (this is typical Bhojpuri, listening to it is also necessary),” says Maithili, who began making home videos of folk songs such as Koyal bin bagiya na shobhe raja, Pahil paran siya thanal (Bhojpuri sohar), Pagal kahela na (Bhojpuri nirgun geet). Some of these were sung at weddings and births in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, such as Purva pachhimwa se ayile sundar dulha and Aaju Janakpur chahu mangal.