Aman Da Kafla: Dolly Guleria to revisit Surinder Kaur’s journey at CPI Congress

The daughter of the Nightingale of Punjab will sing songs of freedom, love and equality at the party’s 25th national congress in Chandigarh

Written by Parul

Updated: September 21, 2025 06:47 PM IST

3 min read

On September 22, Dolly will revisit those memories at the cultural programme of the Communist Party of India’s (CPI) 25th National Congress at Kisan Bhavan, Sector 35, Chandigarh. (Express Photo)

Dolly Guleria is “loaded” with sentiments and memories as she prepares to take centrestage with songs of love, freedom, humanity, patriotism and peace—songs once sung by her mother, the Nightingale of Punjab Surinder Kaur, her father Joginder Singh Sodhi, and the stalwarts of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA).

The singer was just five years old in 1954-55 when she first saw Communists raise their arms and sing aloud to reach the poor and illiterate, celebrating freedom and the spirit of Independence. “I accompanied my parents to IPTA conferences where they sang about how freedom was won, the dreams of a new nation, and the call to Jago. In the rain and under the scorching sun, with many songs of andolan penned and composed by my father, these men and women created magic. Those memories remain etched in my mind and run in my blood,” she recalls.

On September 22, Dolly will revisit those memories at the cultural programme of the Communist Party of India’s (CPI) 25th National Congress at Kisan Bhavan, Sector 35, Chandigarh. “Aman Da Kafla is my ode to the movement. It is an honour to sing here and be part of the mission and legacy of stalwarts like my parents, Kaifi Azmi, Amrita Pritam, Jaspal Singh, Balraj Saini, Prithviraj Kapoor, Dr Harbhajan Singh and Shiv Kumar Batalvi,” she says.

The conference, she adds, is deeply personal. “It reminds me of how my mother would mesmerise audiences with her volatile personality, with people singing along. I will sing what I heard her sing. She would have been 96 now. She was never a commercial artist—she stayed true to her roots and culture.” Surinder Kaur and her sister Parkash Kaur were also among the first women to sing on Lahore Radio, pioneering the preservation of Punjabi folk music.

Dolly remembers her mother’s ideals vividly. When Dolly’s husband, then a Captain in the Indian Army, proposed to her at 19, her mother said yes first. “She was dedicated to the cause of freedom. Having lived through Partition, she saw freedom as a privilege. She admired the Army uniform, the spirit of communism, and my father’s philosophy of ‘respect humans first.’ These values remain with us. I am also happy that my daughter Sunaini will be part of this timeless legacy,” she says.

She has a word of advice for today’s younger singers: “Don’t ape the West. Be original, don’t lose your culture.” For Dolly, her mother’s journey continues through her music. “The movement of peace, oneness and freedom of spirit that she stood for lives on,” she smiles.

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