An unyielding goddess

Even the current generation is listening to his songs, they are swaying to that song. For the first time, she sang the song 'Timilai Mero Anamma' in the movie 'Kasturi'. Musician Kiran Pradhan gave this opportunity. On the modern side, for the first time, she sang two songs in late singer Praveen Gurung's 'Sangam' album. After that, his activity in the musical field increased.

"I was born in Pashupatinagar in Elam, I grew up in different cities of India because my father was an Indian army," she remembers, "When I was studying in school, everyone said that you sing well, some of them advised me to sing in Radio Nepal." She came to Nepal with that enthusiasm. She started learning music with musicians Shila Bahadur and Kunti Moktan. Musicians Narraj Dhakal, Kumar Shrestha and Sarada Chhetri were his mentors. She cannot forget Shambhujit Baskota's help in singing modern songs and films.

Radio In Nepal, one could not sing a song without passing the vocal test. She was preparing for the vocal exam. In the meantime, musician Bulu Mukarung took the artists along with him to sing a song at a program held in Gorkha. "At that time, Bulu Dai asked if you did a voice test on the radio, he said no," she says. After passing her second attempt, she got a chance to sing with Praveen Gurung. Meanwhile, saxophone player Shubha Bahadur Sunam asked her to sing at the Army Officers Club.

Around the year 2049, she got an opportunity to sing the song 'Euta Pardeshi Ai, Sodhyo Mero Naam' on Radio Nepal, with lyrics by Lalijan Rawal and music by Narendra Paci. Soon after, Yadav sang 'This is the custom here' in the words of Kharel. The song had music by Shambhujit Baskota. "During the recording, Shambhujit sir sang a very sweet song, it does something to you," she says.

Hit in film singing

Devika kept getting offers one after another for film songs. After 'Kasturi', she got an opportunity to sing in Ashok Sharma's 'Garib'. She sang the song 'Nagbeli Chultho' with Rajesh Payal Rai. She sang along with Umesh Pandey and Ramana Shrestha in 'Ram Jaane' from the film 'Neermaya' directed by Ashok. Then she sang 'Achcha Lokin' from the movie 'Daiv Sanyog', 'Tal-Tal Bensima' from the movie 'Taal' with Shambhujit Baskota. 'Seetko Thopa' from the film 'Daiv', 'Lukichipi Lukichichi Behernele' from 'Dharmasankat', 'Are Baba Sun Jasti' from 'Chandni', 'Master Saheb' and 'Sainikalai Tundikhel' from 'Sanyas', 'Jetho Kanchho' from the film Rana Jyu', the song 'Ma Phani Jaonla Muglin Bazar' from the movie 'Sajay' brought him to the top of the limelight. She got an opportunity to sing the song 'Bhere Arandadu Sapnima' from the movie 'Miley' with Kumar Sanu. Be it the song 'Kalo Kotma Tie Her' from the movie 'Yo Mayako Sangar' or 'Ma Bhamra' from 'Mr Ramakrishna', 'Soonsun Sanam' from the movie 'Thuldai', were equally popular. ``Hey Sangita'' from the movie 'Sun Chandi', 'Yo Maya Ke Ho' from the movie 'Dhukdhuki' were also liked by the audience.

She considers that time as her golden age. "The audience used to like the song that was sung," she says, "I was shocked to read in the newspaper that the audience had come to the hall to watch the song." She has sung more than 100 movie songs. "At that time, I used to know how a song became a hit by reading Kantipur 'Saptahik'," she says. When there were no mobiles and technology like now, it used to be that you could come on Fridays and watch the weekly.'

At that time, some songs were not recorded in Nepal. Should have gone to Mumbai, India. For that she goes on to record up to 10 film songs. "It used to be a stay of about 10 days," she says.

In his evaluation, the most preferred song by the audience towards the modern side is 'Yastai Heha Ahaan Ko Chalan'. She has sung most number of songs with Shambhujit. "I got a lot of love from the audience by entering this field, the songs I sang for the film are not lost," she says, "The film may be old, but the song is still alive." . The

musical evening was also very busy at that time. There were programs like Shikhar, Tuborg evening. For that, the artists used to travel across the country. "Participated in many solo evenings, I used to sing 20 to 25 songs at a time," she says, "During Covid, the Rotary Club of Tripureshwar organized a solo evening through Zoom, which was a different experience for me."

Devika has spent more than three and a half decades in the music field. "Nowadays, many singers have come," she says, "don't worry, you will definitely succeed in this field, it will be even better if you study and understand music." Wearing a song record

Devika's 'breast' used to hurt even before the start of Covid-19. Even though he showed it to the doctor, he did not treat it as a big problem. When she attended a solo evening on Zoom, the pain began to increase. She came to Kathmandu from Butwal. He was afraid that he might not have cancer. She rushed to the hospital with Draidarai's family. The amount of blackness in the breast was increased than before. As soon as I showed it to the doctor, he said that it was cancer, it was in the third stage,'' she said. It's just that I won't live anymore.'

He knew that singer Taradevi Thapa had cancer. However, he did not dare to say it directly. ``I called my sister, I felt embarrassed to say that I have cancer,'' she says, ``My friend has breast cancer, how is it, what is going to happen.'' Taradevi, who was in bed for 11 days during chemotherapy for the first time, told her. She became more nervous when she said that she had to eat in bed. All treatment was done at Nepal Cancer Hospital Harsiddhi. "In the beginning, the chemo was difficult, the second phase was three days of injections in Thai, during which I was in more pain," she says, "then I gradually tolerated it." She underwent a total of 19 chemo sessions. Surprisingly, even in the meantime, he recorded 11 songs. However, she told very few people about her cancer.

``I felt that I wanted to tell everyone about my personal experience and thought of writing a book,'' she says, ``I called Chiran Baral, a writer from Butwal, to Kathmandu and told him about my situation and asked him to write a book.''

She was invited to sing in the program because she did not let others know. She told actress and producer Roshni KC that she had cancer. "I used to be invited to the program, no one knew I had cancer, at that time there was fear of Corona," he She says, 'I used to wear globes, masks, sometimes I had to put on chemo right after the program, I used to run to the hospital to put on chemo as soon as the program was over, then Roshni would help me and get in the car, after putting on chemo, I would go to another program.' The family members were surprised to see the self-strength. She used to wake up early in the morning and do physical exercises and Riyaz. Even after cancer, she continued to sing Teej, Modern and Bhajan. "A person with cancer has gone to sing a song, I have recorded a song, I even thought that I am going to set a world record," she says, "I called the Nepal representative of the world record at home, and told him everything." , it came to need sufficient evidence. Then she started filming from the surgery to the chemo in bed. Despite sending the video to Britain, there was no news for a month. Later, she was happy that it was decided to come to London and give the world record. But, I said not to take it immediately. I replied that I am writing a book, the day it is released, I should also give the record on the same day," she says.

His book 'Jitneko Haso' was released in 2080 Baisakh. On the same day, the London-based World Book of Records awarded him a letter of appreciation as an 'Iconic Performing Artist' for being able to sing a dozen songs in the presence of cancer.

"I was put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital, and I showed a 17-minute video during the book release, from the operation to the hair loss," she says. Everyone said how could she hide it, Madan Dai's (Madankrishna Shrestha) wife also died of cancer, she cried again when she brought out the story of that time.' Devika said that she also brought out an English version to distribute the book worldwide. As

will be followed up in 6/6 months, his daily schedule is running. I wake up at 5 am. After the pooja, she performs Riyaz for an hour. Then she does physical exercise for another hour. "I like to cook food myself," she says, "I don't give time to anyone before one o'clock, that's when I give time to myself, I only go to places I don't have to go."

Now she sings only by her own will. Now he wants to remember the old musical days by singing film songs. 'Many people are saying about the film,' she said, 'I won cancer, now I will sing to win everyone's heart again.'