Music of Life
An Equal Music
Pavithra Chari
Musician, Lyricist, Composer, Bharatanatyam Dancer, Music Educator
"I view the many hats I wear as an artiste as different facets to my identity. Each learning informs the other… I continue to nurture each of these passions and I feel it provokes me to think in different ways about the same thing"
Pavithra, you have recently made Chennai your home, having shifted base from Delhi. How is Chennai treating you and what are your days here like?
I was born in Chennai and since it is my hometown, I enjoy the sense of familiarity it gives me. I came here to explore my voice and singing in a different setting and though it has been a challenging few months, I have gained an incredible amount of self-awareness and a fair understanding of the musical ecosystem here. Working in the film industry in particular has been quite eye-opening and I am working on making improvements to myself every single day.
As a city, we have a dearth of Hindustani music and musicians; would you agree?
It has just been a few months for me here so I can't comment with much certainty. Carnatic music is definitely more prevalent here, which is fair, but I do know that there are connoisseurs and lovers of Hindustani music as well. I just hope to connect with them soon, so as listeners and students of the art form, we have more events and opportunities to look forward to!
You have also been dabbling in playback; what has that experience been like? How different is playback from a live concert experience and as an artiste, how do you shift from one experience to another?
I have always been fascinated by playback singing.
Right from my childhood, I have always wanted to hear my voice in a theatre. Singing for films is a difficult yet rewarding process. Primarily because, as a composer/performer, when I write/learn music, the composition stays with me from its creation to the release/concert many months later.
But as a session vocalist, I am called into the studio with limited time and stimuli, and I have to effectively contribute to the music director’s vision within the much bigger universe of the film. It requires a different set of skills, new perspectives and pushes me out of my comfort zone. I am grateful to experience this and I hope to learn more about myself from this process.
Pavithra, as an artiste, you also wear many hats - you are a vocalist, lyricist, composer and a Bharatanatyam dancer? How do you inhabit these many roles or are they in a sense interlinked with each other?
I view all of these as different facets to my identity. Each learning informs the other. There is so much I have learnt about music as a student of dance. I continue to nurture each of these passions and I feel it provokes me to think in different ways about the same thing.
Additionally, when I feel overwhelmed by one experience, I often focus my attention on the other.
You are also an expressive arts-based therapist; could you please shed light on that?
I am a graduate of Psychology and after college I trained to be an expressive arts- based therapist at Fortis Hospitals as a way to combine my interests of the arts with my academic pursuits.
I work with children and adults, as well as children on the Autism spectrum to use music, dance, movement and visual arts in therapeutic ways. I am certified by UNESCO and the Centre of International Dance (France). I curate and facilitate sessions as a freelancer with schools, NGOs, corporate organizations and art festivals to address self-awareness, stress, trauma, creativity, and mindfulness among other concerns.
Berklee Indian Ensemble featuring Shadow and Light
We also read that you are an advocate for music education; in the world that we live in, why do you think music education is imperative and how can it help raise better citizens?
I feel that there is a lot of scope for improvement in the way music education is currently perceived in schools. I work with many organizations that are introducing new ways to integrate music education within the larger curriculum.
For me, there are two ways to look at music education, especially with children. The first is the sonic/musical elements that students learn to appreciate and the second are life skills like creativity, problem solving, decision making and conflict resolution that are important for a child, to not just survive in this world but thrive in it. So in either case, based on the child’s interest and aptitude, these experiences are highly beneficial.
I have had the joy of seeing the impact of such interventions on students for a while now.
What has it been like to train with Shubha Mudgal? As a disciple, what is your relationship with your guru and what are some of her qualities as a teacher that you admire?
Shubha ji is a wonderful guru. I have deep respect for her and am so grateful to be her disciple. She inspires me to be thorough in my work, to be a dedicated student, and be my authentic self in everything I do.
She is a role model for me especially in the way, she is unabashedly herself in all situations, the respect she has for all artistes especially people of her crew and how knowledgeable she is about everything. I keep her updated on my projects and she is very supportive of my work. It’s been nine years of being her student and I learn so much from her every single day.
A collage of photos from Pavithra's album
What is your relationship and response to the poetry of the Nirgun tradition?
I am grateful to my guru Shubha Mudgal ji for teaching me so many beautiful compositions and varied repertoires. She taught me a set of bhajans that are a part of the nirgun tradition with poetry by Sant Kabir, Raidas, Goodhadh Sai.
As I learnt her compositions, I realised how such profound things have been communicated through simple and relatable words. The imagery is also rich and abundant. I have to say that I have barely scratched the surface and there is so much more to learn, both in terms of the poetry as well as the music.
I recently got the opportunity to present these compositions at Krea University and felt a deep sense of gratitude for how wonderful the evening was!
You are also a lyricist; talk to us a little about the importance of poetry and its inextricable link with music?
As a lyricist, I feel like I still have a lot to learn and understand. Poetry is a vast ocean and just when you feel like you know something about it, a hundred other perspectives appear.
For my writing in Shadow and Light, I draw inspiration from the everyday things in life and the questions that pop into my head after any interaction or experience. And in all these years of writing music, I have come to realise that the melodic and rhythmic elements of the song drive as much of the narrative as the lyrics. They all come together to create the essence of the composition.
Your thesis was also on understanding song-text: a study of Khayal compositions in Hindustani music; over the years of learning and performing Khayal music, has your relationship with it evolved?
I have been a student of Hindustani classical music, specifically Khayal for many years now. As a student of Khayal, there are so many things I have wanted to know more about, so many questions I have wondered.
I wanted to better my understanding of the narratives in Khayal, of its evolution and structure. The academic paper was the result of a year-long research fellowship by Kolkata Center for Creativity and the whole process of research gave me very deep insights into khayal as a genre.
I am grateful to Dr Aneesh Pradhan for being my guide and helping me navigate that challenging journey. You can read the published paper here
Your partner, Anindo Bose and you have a contemporary-classical outfit, Shadow and Light; are you the classical component of that outfit? What is the sound of Shadow and Light and how did the two of you create it? Is it a constant work-in-progress?
Yes most definitely! Anindo and I have varied influences - mine being Hindustani classical and his being classic rock, RnB, and Jazz.
Shadow and Light is an amalgamation of all of that and more. We started out as a studio project with the sole intent of writing original music. Over the past decade, we have had so much to be grateful for. We have three albums of original music in Hindi, English and Tamil released worldwide, tours across multiple countries and our original song Dua which is featured on the Grammy nominated album Shuruaat by the Berklee Indian Ensemble.
We have also debuted as composers for a web series. The songwriting of course is a constant work-in-progress. There are ups and downs but we take our time with our music. We release a song only if it feels right in our gut. And we really enjoy the process of working together and finding the balance of genres in our music.
He Govind He Gopal, a Bhajan by Pavithra Chari