A tribute to Bulo C Rani on his 25th death anniversary (6 May 1920 – 24 May 1993)
My first reaction to Bulo C Rani when I heard Humein to loot liya mil ke husnwaalon ne was, how a lady could create such a masculine qawwali. The next marker by which I recognised Bulo C Rani was Ghunghat ke pat khol re tohe piya piya milenge and other delicate bhajans from Jogan (1950), sung so plaintively by Geeta Roy (Dutt). These were more like being composed by a lady with a sonorous name like Bulo C Rani, who could empathise with a character like Meerabai. Gradually, I became aware of the tremendous variety in singers and type of songs composed by this music director. It was much later that I came to know that he was a Sindhi gentleman by the name Bulo Chandiram Ramchandani.