At the Divine Union Festival held last March in Goa, Tritha had invited 30 healers, inspiring speakers and musicians to come together to better understand the masculine and feminine for global harmony. It inspired her to come up with her next album, Pachamama. “I heard the word ‘Pachamama’ one day in my dream as a tune when I had bought a Tibetan bowl in Sikkim. At that time I had no clue what the word meant. I dreamt of an old woman with long white hair looking at me, with tears in her eyes, but smiling simultaneously. When I researched the dream, I realised this was like a message from the universe to me,” she says.
For the vocalist, composer and music producer, Pachamama is a dedication to Mother Earth, aimed at sending positive vibrations into the world. Known as Mother Gaia in South America, Earth has been plundered by humans, who have been dependent on her for their nutrition and nourishment. “It’s time to give back and love ‘Pachamama’ again,” Tritha says, explaining the rationale behind her song.
The album is about nature and the inner human qualities at a time when we are surrounded by disease and tragedy all around. The 10 songs in the album weave together various elements such as breath, rain, clouds, love, romance, mysticism, dance and enlightenment. For Tritha, who learned music, yoga and Sanskrit across various Indian ashrams at a young age, this was a cosmic connection of sorts.
“Apart from teaching music, my gurus also instilled the importance of being spiritual. For over 20 years, I underwent training in three different gharanas,” explains Tritha. When she was 17, Tritha started to sing professionally in Bengali films and also worked as a TV host on a Bengali channel. This stint helped her pay her bills after her father suffered a heart attack and could not work for some time. Performing at Bollywood-themed shows proved financially lucrative to support her family, but as her spiritual side began to take over, a career that married her profession with the soul is what she longed for. The answer came in France, with the West recognising her classical talents.
Wearing multiple hats and being a voice-healer and an activist also led her to create SPACE (Stop Patriarchy And Choose Equality), an Indian women collective aimed at gender equality. Her sound healing music project is called Tritha & Martin. And Tritha Electric is the name of her Indo-French psychedelic raaga-rock band. There are several other EPs and singles she has released with various international electronic producers, but the cherry on the cake was composing music for the movie Voyage for Change, which won the Coup de Cœur—Cup of Heart award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. The documentary is about the sustainability of the planet seen from the eyes of kids. And this is what Tritha aims for—a better world with her musical scores.
A bit of this and that
✥ Based out of India and France, Tritha has been trained in Hindustani classical music and Dhrupad for over 25 years and has 10 independent albums to her credit
✥ She has travelled and represented India in over 18 countries and performed at more than 300 concerts
✥ A TedX speaker, she has been accredited by the US State Department for her music activism and cultural diplomacy through musical engagements and community development
✥ She has also worked with global personalities like dancer and social activist Mallika Sarabhai, percussionist Sivamani, director Muzaffar Ali and Eve Ensler, author of Vagina Monologues