Prakash Kaur (19 September 1919 – (1982) was an Indian singer.
Early life
Kaur was born in Lahore, back then part of British India, into a Punjabi-Sikh family. She is the elder sister of Surinder Kaur, famous Punjabi singer-songwriter. Born on September 19, 1919, in the City of Lahore, in the year in which the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh took place in Amritsar. Kaur was the eldest daughter of a Sehajdhari Sikh Bishan Dass. The family lived in Mohalla Bhati Gate within the walled section of Lahore. Kaur used to hear the Rababi women sing during the weddings and festive occasions. At a very young age, she used to copy the established singers in every detail of the melody.
Career
Kaur was granted approval to sing on Indian radio around 1940. She made her professional debut with a live performance on 'Peshawar Radio' in 1941, and then on 31 August 1943, the two sisters performed their first duet, "maavan 'te dheean ral baithian", for the HMV label.
Kaur was already an accredited artist of All India Radio Lahore. In 1943, Kaur took her thirteen-year-old sister Surinder Kaur along to the studios of All India Radio Lahore. To the surprise of everyone at the radio station, even Surinder Kaur passed the audition test. After August of 1943, Surinder Kaur al Kaur and Surinder Kaur with Deedar Singh Pardesiso started going to the radio station with Kaur and most of the time they sang duets, which became very popular. Budh Singh Taan, who was the assistant to the then head of the music section Jiwan Lal Mattoo at AIR Lahore, started coaching both sisters in light singing. But the road to light singing passed via classical music. This way Kaur got her first exposure to the intricacies of Hindustani classical music.
Both sisters recorded several duets in each other’s company under the music direction of music director Master Inayat Hussain. Even Kaur’s earliest duets with Surinder Kaur became very popular. Some of the earliest recorded duets had the following lyrics “Dhol sipahiya weh kithe gayon dil laake”, “Haaye naa vass oye na wass badla aje naa wass oye kaaliya” and “Maawan te dhiyan ral baithiyan ni maaye koyi kardiyan gallorian, ni Kankan nissriyan dhiyan kyon vissriyan maaye”. All these duets became instant hits. Kaur rendered several “Shabads” also at All India Radio Lahore. These “Shabads” became popular all over the listening area of All India Radio Lahore. During those days transcriptions of the programs were not made. That is why these numbers are not available even in the radio archives. Kaur briefly sang for films too. One or two such records are available with special category collectors.
On 15th of August 1947, India got independence from the British Colonial Rule. For most Indians it was an occasion for celebration, but for the Punjabis and the Bengalis it was a time of bloody clashes, arson and devastation. The scale of death and destruction brought about by senseless violence associated with ethnic cleansing exercise was unimaginable anywhere of the world. Since Lahore came into the share of Pakistan, the Hindus and the Sikhs of Lahore had to be forcibly shifted to East Punjab. Kaur and her family members survived the brutalities of the communal frenzy, but they were made to leave Lahore empty handed. Her younger sister Surinder Kaur moved initially to Ferozepore and subsequently to Bombay. Kaur and her husband made the right move. After staying for a short while in Amritsar, Kaur and her family settled in New Delhi. Incidentally Delhi became the city with the highest refugee Punjabi population, and it provided a readymade market for Punjabi music. Kaur had become the best-known Punjabi female singer in Northern India. From day one she was in great demand in metropolitan Delhi and the national capital region. In the adjoining state of Punjab also there was a great demand for Kaur’s music and live performances. She frequently performed live in all the major cities of Punjab, including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ferozepore and Ambala. Once or twice a month, she used to perform at All India Radio Jalandhar too.