Gonjla Gaen

'Gonjla Gaen (18th century) kaviy'a'l (bard) who organised kaviyal groups to sing at the houses of aristocrats on payment. Gonjla Guin had a special style of singing. He sang the opening section in the manner of light sub-continental classical music, followed by a section sung on a higher scale. His songs such as 'aso aso chand badani/ e rase niras karo na dhani';, 'pran, tore heriye dure gelo mor'; etc'; resemble the themes and style of tappa songs. Among his disciples were Ragunath Das, Lalu, Nanda Lal, Kesta Muchi and Ramjee Das, who helped popularise these songs. [Wakil Ahmed]' [Ahmed, Wakil former Vice Chancellor, National University]