ITANAGAR, 21 Feb: Popular singer Rerik Karlo Digbak has been awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for 2020 for her contribution to folk music and dance in the state.
Rerik has 290 songs to her credit in eight Arunachali languages in different genres. She is a popular lyricist and choreographer too.
She formally started her journey in the field of music after approval in the All India Radio, Itanagar, as its artiste in 1999, and thereafter recorded 11 folksongs for AIR and 20 folksongs for Doordarshan Kendra, Itanagar.
She recorded in Adi, Aparajita, Galo, Tagin, Nyishi, Monpa and Miji languages, with a few Hindi songs as well. She has also sung several patriotic anthem songs for different tribes of Arunachal Pradesh.
Seeing her popularity, particularly in singing and scripting folksongs of Arunachal, she was also invited to Guwahati, Assam by DY365 channel, and recorded a few Assamese songs.
Born in 1981 to Ture and Miter Kadu Karlo, she is married to Tanga Digbak, an engineer.
With a bachelor in arts and a degree in vocal music from the Bangiya Sangeet Parishad, Kolkata, with first class performance, Rerik is a social activist too. She is an active member of Sanskar Bharati and the Arunachal Pradesh Women’s Welfare Society.
