Thursday 11 December 2008

A musical journey that ended abruptly...

"If music be the food of life, play on." I make this little alteration of Orsino's famous line from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night; music is indeed the food of life.

I grew up in an atmosphere of music and it was but natural for me to take interest in it. My father always said that I started listening to music while I was in my mother's womb. I guess that was true as my life revolved around music. My family still recounts the times when I could go on singing nonstop. I started singing at the age of 2 and a half, I give the credit to the school I went to!

While growing up I participated in numerous inter-school and inter-college music competitions. Later started singing professionally with various Rock bands. I have had the wonderful experience of performing with the best musicians in Kolkata.

Along with singing with the bands I was also actively involved in the marketing of the bands which included getting sponsors, organizing the venue, and managing logistics such as sound and so on.

Apart from singing I also play the Piano and the Electronic Keyboard and am qualified in Classical Music under Trinity College, London, and Royal School of Music, London. I started playing the piano when I was 8. I taught about 200 students how to play the piano and the electronic keyboard, and what was very exciting was that the age group of my students was 4 to 58!

Singing in a choir was always a dream, and that dream came to life in 1996 when I started singing with Funtastiques, a Jazz/Pop Choral Group in Calcutta. Later when I moved to Hyderabad in 2001, I joined Hyderabad Choral Society.

Besides singing and playing I have been on the panel of judges for numerous music competitions. I have been a part of All India Radio, Kolkata as a singer. Worked with All India Radio, Hyderabad as a Casual Compere. Work involved compering programmes live on AIR, scripting, recording and dubbing, and also making features.

Till 5 years ago I firmly believed that if there was no music in my life I wouldn't earn a living. I say till 5 years ago as life took a funny twist and I surprised myself immensely. I was forced to try out another source to survive. Incidentally, the latter option of becoming a communications trainer turned out to be rather lucrative and I guess I lost the ability to struggle to live for what I believed in.

Today, I am a forgotten musician or the piano teacher who I used to be. I was seen at choir concerts, rock concerts, piano recitals, club gigs. But today, all that is history and it hurts. A musical journey that was so thrilling, so fulfilling has ended abruptly and I have nowhere to go...

2 comments:

drift wood said...

i understand the point ur making - the inability to make a living out of ones preferred vocations - but thats true for most of us, whether ppl admit it or not. u seem to be a member of a choir society in hyd & still follow music rather actively. do that. after all, whats in ur blood, cant really be lost irrevocably, no?

The Ketchup Girl said...

Its still nt too late...why don't you pursue it in your free time? You are in the right place- mumbai...don't stop pursuing music...only a handful are talented.