Megha Sriram Dalton: The melody of Jharkhand; A renowned folk singer whose voice is recognised nationwide
A lady belonging to a very small town gets entry into the world of glamour and is recognized by the whole nation. It’s a matter of proud in itself. This sense of joy has been given to us by a lady whose voice is a basis of recognition. Born and brought up in Daltonganj, a small town in the state of Jharkhand, Megha Sriram Dalton is today one of the famous folk singers of Jharkhand. Not only folk but she has also made her debut in Bollywood giving them the best songs.
Megha Sriram Dalton is a native of Daltonganj and she did her schooling from Mission School, Daltonganj. Just because she was born in Daltonganj, she decided to keep her name ‘Dalton’ after her husband’s name. The fact that is fascinating about her is that she started learning music from the age of 13 from Ustad Amjad Ali. She is married to one of the great filmmaker Sriram Dalton who is also from Jharkhand. He also won a national award for his film ‘The Lost Behrupiya’. She started singing at the age of 11. She wasn’t much interested in music or didn’t have a career oriented approach. But it was just that her mother wanted her to sing, so she kept singing with her support. It was a path breaking incident when she was in class 12th, she failed in her board exams after which she chose music as her career and decide to learn it.
Megha did her B.Music graduation course from BHU, Varanasi and learnt the music skills from there itself. It was her husband Sriram, who told her about the music course when they met before marriage. After her graduation in music, she went on to do various Hindi theatres and worked in almost 10-12 plays. All through this journey she kept on singing but she was in a chaos that which genre of music suited and satisfied her. Although she sang folk music but she wasn’t sure of making her as the core field. It was in 2007 when she made her first break in Bollywood with the song ‘Bangla Khula Khula Remix’ from the movie ‘Anwar’. After her first break she went on to sing various other songs. Then in 2011, she sang a song ‘Jiya laage Na’ with Shankar Mahadevan at MTV Coke Studio 1st season. She says that after she sung a small part (Jharkhandi Folk) for this song, Shankar Mahadevan came to her and hugged her. He also encouraged her to sing a solo song. Now, when she was appreciated and motivated she went on to sing ‘Dheere Dheere’ song again at MTV Coke Studio. The song was a Jharkhandi folk song which portrayed the phases of life of a woman. After this song of her, she came to realize that she was made for folk music and can excel in that field making it survive because someone has to do it.
She has also done research on folk music of Uttar Pradesh and was awarded a scholarship from H.R.D Ministry of India for working and promoting folk music of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. She also sang a song from the Bollywood movie ‘That Girl in Yellow Boots’. In the year 2016, she got famous after the title song of the Bollywood movie ‘Shivaay’ which she sang with a few other singers. She also received several positive feedbacks for this song. Even she was featured in the music video of this song. Behind this is a fact which hardly anyone knows about her is that during her studies in BHU, Varanasi she used to sing Shiva bhajans and shlokas with a local music label so as to earn her pocket money. She says that she draws a special energy and inspiration from Lord Shiva and she connects with her spiritually in her life. The ‘Shivaay’ song gave her global recognition and then she went on to sing many Bhojpuri folk songs. Later, she also composed music for a short film ‘OP- Stop Smelling your Socks’ in 2011 which was directed by her husband Sriram Dalton and one of the best actors, Nawazuddin Siddiqui was the lead actor of this film.
Having a real interest in the folk culture and folk music, Megha Sriram Dalton has given a lot to the folk culture of Jharkhand through her songs. With her talent and melodious voice, she is now the attraction and proud factor for not only the natives of Jharkhand but for the whole nation. She is working to make the people aware of the extincting folk culture. We really salute Megha for her thoughts, efforts and talent that will help in reviving the folk culture and songs in modern times. Her songs and its beauty will always be alive in everyone’s hearts.
You make Jharkhand proud through your voice!