Joda: A tribal youth here in Keonjhar district has shot to fame and carved a niche for himself as a singer by belting out songs in ‘Ho’ language. The songs have become a rage on YouTube. Soma Purty, 24, son of a farmer and Pala artiste Gurucharan Purty of Sanabadabil village under Aseinkala panchayat of Joda block is now a household name not only in Keonjhar district but many other places in Odisha. Soma has struggled hard for success. Not from an affluent family, Soma really had to struggle to keep his education going.
However, adversity could not prevent him from displaying his talent as a singer. He opened his own channel on YouTube and started uploading songs in his native tongue ‘Ho’. Soon his songs became a rage and he went on to sing in other Odia languages. He carved a niche for himself both in Odisha as well as in Jharkhand. Soma after completing his schooling from Saraswati Sishu Mandir at Bileipada is now pursuing graduation at Rimuli College. His family consists of his parents, two brothers, and a sister. It was difficult for Gurucharan to meet the expenses required for the education of his children, so to help out his father, Soma also worked on farmlands. Then Soma decided to try his luck out as he loved to sing and people told him he had a natural flair for it. So he started recording his songs. However, recording meant that Soma had to shell out money.
To earn money he started selling vegetables in the local markets. Soma named his channel on YouTube ‘Purty Star’. His songs became an instant hit and soon he became famous. Even though initially he sang only songs in ‘Ho’, later on, he tried his hand in ‘Sadri’ and other Odia dialects. Those songs became a hit too. As his fame grew, Soma started getting invitations for stage shows. He has already performed in Ranchi, Tata nagar, Chakradharpur, and Chaibasa in Jharkhand as well as in Jajpur, Baripada, and Rourkela in Odisha.
Among Soma’s most popular songs are, ‘Mal Piyenge’, ‘Murgi Tangli’, ‘Baby Beautiful’, in ‘Ho’ language and ‘Dilta Deewana’ in Odia. It is pertinent to mention here that many Odia celebrities have made reels while performing to Soma’s songs and used them on various social media platforms. Soma attributes his success to the blessings of his parents. His goal is to own a studio so that he can popularise songs in ‘Ho’. He also wants to provide a platform for aspiring singers in the state.