Mahim Hossain

Shayan (Farzana Wahid)
সায়ান
Shayan (Farzana Wahid) সায়ান
Background information
Birth name	Farzana Wahid Shayan
Born	2 September 1976 (age 47); Montreal,Canada
Genres	Contemporary Bengali
Occupation(s)	Singer; Lyricist; Music Composer; Poet;
Instrument(s)	Guitar; Harmonica; Piano; Harmonium;
Years active	2008–present
Spouse(s)	Mir Mubashir Ahmad (divorced)

Farzana Wahid Shayan (Bengali: ফারজানা ওয়াহিদ সায়ান, born on 2nd September 1976) is a Bangladeshi musician, singer, lyricist, poet, music composer and a human rights worker based in Dhaka.^[1]

Personal Life edit

Early Life: edit

Farzana Wahid Shayan was born in 1976 in Montreal, Canada, but was brought back to her ancestral home, Bangladesh, by her parents at a tender age of only 7 months; granting her an upbringing in the fast-paced city of Dhaka. Both of her parents had musicality in their blood and everyday life. Her father, M. Khasru Wahid, was a fine professional singer at his prime, who sang modern Bengali songs, and her mother, Najma Banu, who didn’t pursue a career in music, however, was completely submitted to a life that valued music of exquisite nature. Incidentally, unlike most of her peers, Shayan’s childhood had to face a different set of issues while growing up. When the lyricist was as young as five and her younger brother, Ershad Wahid, only seventeen months old, her parents got divorced which left Shayan as a desolate child , and therefore, she had to go through a great deal of emotional turmoil from an early age. Despite many traumatizing ordeals, Shayan credits her mother the most to raise her to be a grateful and self-reliant individual^[2].

Family Background: edit

Shayan has been singing since she was about ten or twelve years old. Despite belonging to a family where almost everyone was connected to music–-father Khasru Wahid, her paternal uncle Ferdos Wahid (the pop star of the 80s the 90s), and her cousin Habib Wahid––her musical foundation was predominantly shaped by her maternal family, where musicality was an everyday phenomena, although no one pursued it as a profession. But the singer wants to credit her mother the most whose musicality influenced Shayan rigorously and exposed her to various kinds of melodies as a child.

It was her mother who used to practise music at home, and sitting by her quietly; listening to those sessions, the singer received the most important wisdom of her life. Evidently, it was also a single mother’s life-long struggle which inspired the singer to write those experiences in the form of her lyrics^[3].

Despite such advantages, Shayan did not tread upon the mainstream musical path her other family members did, a contrast which vividly reflects in her musical efforts. So, from the very beginning of her music career, her genre has been an unconventional, philosophical and lyric-oriented one^[4].

Marriage: edit

In the year 2004, Shayan got married to Mir Mubashir Ahmad, but after 8 years of marriage in 2012, they initiated a divorce. Currently, the musician is single and never had a child.

Education edit

Farzana Wahid's formal, academic schooling days were spent in Dhaka and she completed her HSC in 1995. At the age of twenty-one, she left for Toronto and returned to Bangladesh after four years; without completing her under-graduation in psychology. After this break in study, she finished her LLB as a distant-programme student in Dhaka, under the university of London in 2006, and after ten years from then, she finished her LLM from the University of Asia Pacific^[5] .

Career edit

Shayan never received her licence to practise Law. However, she has worked as a tutor in different law academies, and as a junior assistant in several law firms for more than a decade in Dhaka; only to ensure a decent earning. But after that, she was completely engrossed in music. The experiences she had gathered, while working in the law field, had a profound role to play in her song writing. The singer has deliberately avoided the court, as she considers the work of a lawyer a full-time job, and being a full-time musician, that would not have been possible for her. Beside her musical struggles, Shayan needed to have a back-up profession to support herself because, like any other musician in Bangladesh, she too was dubious about making a career in music that would provide a comfortable living.

Influences edit

Shayan finds life to be her first teacher, muse and motivation, although she admits her debt of knowledge to some of the most renowned, global musicians from the yesteryear as well as from the present music scene. She writes, tunes and sings her own songs which she considers a life saving practice from a very early age, and prefers to sing with a purpose she finds more constructive and rewarding. The musician writes topic based songs as a part of her passion, profession, and she gathers her muse from the life she leads and the characters she is surrounded by. The topics of her songs usually revolve around random tales from her personal life, feminism, child rights, patriotism, humanity, compassion, youth spirit and mental health; which she interprets in her own terms^[6].

Genre edit

Chiefly, Shayan's music can be categorized as “Contemporary Bengali Music”. However, she would like to classify them as 'Jibon Mukhi Gaan' or 'Songs of Life'. In each of her song, she narrates a story which bears some sort of perspective for its listeners^[7].

Shayan prefers to label her songs as “Pro-life Songs” and her songs are primarily philosophical, which touch various layers of life. Her song, ‘Ami Tajjob Boney Jai' was written on the homeless people; 'Ekhanei Shukh Chilo Ekdin' deals with the issues of divorce and separation; 'Janatar Biyadobbi' deals with ugly politics; 'O Neta Bhai' cries for a poor soul who falls victim to the nasty student-politics in our country today, whereas, 'Du’chokh Diyei Dekho' addresses the fruitless debate of people over the two giant poets of Bengal–– Nazrul and Tagore. The singer claims that she speaks about love in her songs: not only the kind which is only confined between the opposite genders, but also about the affection that can be realized for fellow beings, while observing that no higher philosophy beyond love is needed to preserve balance on earth.^[8] Her songs: Aiburi, Hariye Jawa bondhu, Tajjob Bone Jai, Shundor Hobo, Putrer Hate Dhorshita, Shonar Bangla Shonar Hole, Oth Mon Oth Na, Ore Amar Chokher Jol, Firtey Ghore Bhoy, Jabo Ebar Jabo deal with various themes and issues such as: protest, prayers, love affairs, depression, patriotism, women rights, humanity and youth spirit^[9].

Album & Songs edit

1st Album: edit

In the year 2008, Shayan published her first album ‘Shayaner Gaan’ under the music banner -- Gaanpoka, which was formed by her friends ensued by a struggle of long seven years^[10].

2nd Album: edit

Shayan's 2nd release was in the year 2009 with two CDs titled, ‘Abar Takiye Daakh' which deals with social issues, protest themes and the anomalies of the society, and its second part 'Shopno Amar Haat Dhoro', is about the issues of life, dreams, youth, friendship, sorrow, love, gratitude et cetera. This particular album was designed and explained in its attached booklet with a goal to build a bridge between the singer and her audiences^[11].

Other Projects: edit

Shayan has worked on a family album titled, ‘Just Wahids’ in 2010 along with Ershad and Habib Wahid. Shayan has never worked on films, except for once, in a Bengali film called, 'Pitaa', where she sang, wrote and tuned the song heself, 'Eibaa'. In 2017, a single track of hers, 'Kichhu Bolo' was published by Eagle Music^[12].

Social Activities edit

Since the inception of her career, the musician has been working closely with different kinds of human rights organizations, and using her songs, Shayan has been contributing in our society to change it for betterment, while spreading awareness for the cause of various social problems^[13].