She did many things to achieve the meritoriousness of a good student, but she pursued music just for herself. For Hindustani vocalist, Viraj Amar, it was never meant to be a hobby. It was going to be her career, one that would give her an identity of reckoning her place in this world. Her academically oriented parents supported her interest but made one thing very clear: It couldn’t be at the cost of scholastic achievements. As Amar takes the stage at Sangeetam’s Golden Greats of Indian Music, she tells us how she got herself a masters degree in biochemistry to make her parents feel contented but went to get a doctorate in music to make herself satisfied.
She is 45 today and prides in being able to learn a subject that gives her, above everything else, purpose. “We are at our best when we’re happy. When you are in that state, you find every reason to exhume positivity which then on everything else you do in life. Happiness leads to healthiness, so I am glad I could set out on this path,” says Amar.
Before she became a vocalist, she was an instrumentalist. Sitar kept her company from an early age. It was her guru, Manju Mehta, a disciple of late Pandit Ravi Shankar, who told Amar’s mother that she should learn vocals given her talent. And that’s how a new dream began weaving itself, with Amar in the
centre of it.
She would hum all day long. “It was something I enjoyed so much that years later when I started working as a teacher of biochemistry, thoughts of moving on from it to full-time music became rampant. Riding two horses was getting cumbersome. Eventually, I did turn to music wholely and solely,” says Amar, who has been learning vocals under the tutelage of Rajan and Sajan Mishra for 20 years.
Today she sets foot on a stage that will be graced by several other artists of renown. In the synergy created
by their coming together, Amar is looking forward to basking in the presence of her much loved musical family. Sangeetam’s Golden Greats of Indian Music will take place on April 19 to 21, Triveni Kala Sangam, 205 Tansen Marg, 6 pm onwards.
Show schedule
April 19: Kathak dancer Pt. Rajendra Gangani will perform with Pt. Fateh Singh Gangani on the tabla
April 20: Sitar recital by Mehtab Ali Niazi followed by a vocal recital by Pt. Bhuvanesh Komkali, accompanied by Pt. Shambunath Bhattacharyay on the tabla and Chetan Nigam on harmonium. April 21: Vocalist Saptak Chatterjee followed by a tabla duet byUstad. Akram Khan and Pt. Parimal Chakravorty. Other accompanying artists for the festival are Saptak Sharma on the tabla, Sumit Misra on the harmonium, and Parvez Hussain on tabla.