Little big star in the making

Guwahati, Oct. 16: At an age when most just about manage to lisp "Twinkle twinkle, little star", Aasthajitananda Bordoloi already has a solo music CD to her name.

All of three, Aasthajitananda is the youngest singer ever to have been signed by HMV.

And why not? If Bhupen Hazarika thinks she is a "wonder girl", the Assamese music industry should have little reason to doubt her credentials.

Aasthajitananda is the new "big" prodigy on the block and looks ready to set the Assamese music stage ablaze.

In fact, her solo audio-video CD, Tumar Ganor Kulat, containing eight evergreen numbers of Bhupen Hazarika was released at a function today.

"The sweetness in her voice, that too at such a young age, compelled us to sign a three-year contract with her," a senior official of Sa Re Ga Ma India Ltd, Calcutta, S.F. Karim, said at the function this afternoon.

Anandji, who released the disc, called Aasthajitananda "God-gifted".

"I wonder how a child without any background in music can sing so beautifully and with correct notes," he said.

The singing sensation today enthralled those present at the function with the Bhupen Hazarika classic, Bistirna parore. What amazed the audience was how those little lips pronounced each word to perfection.

When she was just a year old, Aasthajitananda's parents noticed how she could hum tunes even before she could utter the words.

At two, the wonder-child had already made her debut on stage with the popular Assamese song Asomire Chutalate.. at Nagaon.

"Keeping in mind her interest in music, we began sending her to a music school, Sur Sangam Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, last year. She is now being guided by Nanda Banerjee," Aasthajitananda's father, Maramti Bordoloi said.

On March 16 this year, Aasthajitananda recorded two famous Assamese songs -- Asomire Chutalote and Bistirna Parore --at studio Lucky Strings.

Aasthajitananda has made a mark with Hindi numbers too. She enthralled the audience at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalashetra with Tera mujh se hai naata koi on the 68th birth anniversary of R.D. Barman. "She will go a long way. She is simply amazing," said music director Romen Choudhury.