Kaushiki’s band woos a new generation of listeners

Kaushiki Chakravorty has the unique distinction of having brought in a new generation of listeners to her concerts in whichever city in India or the world she sings. Despite totally being a product of the strictly classical gharana system (her father Pt Ajoy Chakravorty is a senior singer of the Patiala gayaki), Kaushiki, while maintaining her classical roots, has reached out to other listeners too, through her all girl band Sakhi, which was incorporated in January 2015, and other media. (Sakhi comprises, in addition to Kaushiki, Bhakti Deshpande, dancer, Debopriya Chatterji, flautist, Nandini Shankar violinist, Sawani Talwalkar tabla, and Mahima Upadhyay, pakhawaj. They brought out their first full album last year.

Kaushiki is one of the busiest and most popular artists today, collaborating with as much ease with Carnatic vocalists, as with Hindustani instrumentalists like flautist Rakesh Chaurasia and sitarist Purbayan Chatterji. Definitely a product of her generation, interacting with her fans on social media regularly, Kaushiki has a versatile voice, and an extremely attractive stage presence.  It was interesting to chat with her, in between her hectic concert schedule; some excerpts:

Kaushiki reminisced “Musically, for me, it all started with my father’s Guru, Pt Gyan Prakash Ghosh” (a very respected Senior in the world of classical music in Calcutta, for vocal as well as tabla). “I always called Pt Gyan Prakash Ghosh “Gyan dadoo” (grandfather). For me he was my grandfather who sang, that’s it, I never had this formal image of a great Guru. My memories are of going over, sometimes with Baba (Pt Ajoy Chakravorty) singing a little, being taught informally, eating snacks…. Of course I was initially taught to sing by my mother, as Baba was really busy those days. When I began to make a little sense, started singing in tune, Baba started taking an interest in my music and decided that yes it’s time for her to learn from my Guru, Pt Gyan Prakash Ghosh. In my family, there was never any force to start learning music; though everyone, all my aunts and uncles, grand parents are all musicians. My brother is a sound engineer but never wanted to learn music. So as per tradition, Baba took me his Guru to ask permission for learning music, and Gyan dadoo took me on.

My “Ganda bandhan” (string tying ceremony binding a disciple formally with the Guru) was at 8 and a half. I went to Dadoo for about 4 years, then he was really unwell, and later passed away. My time with him was really special; there would be other musicians sitting around, he would chat to me about music and musicians. He would give me his notebooks of compositions and ask me what I wanted to learn! I remember being taught Raga Khat, as I picked put a composition in Khat, and asked him if I could learn it. He said yes and taught me. Raga Khat is hardly something a 10 year old would be exposed to, but I remember in my case it was never a case of “supposed to” – there were no taboos in my learning, no -“this is not done”; it was so easy and relaxed! He was my friend; and so music too became a friend to me. There was no serious feeling in me about learning music, that here is this difficult sadhana; music was just a part of my life, a hobby, my favorite past time and that’s what it remains till today.”

She continued, “Of course Baba is, and was my main Guru. Later, for a bit, I also learnt from Ustad Mashkur Khan when I was at ITC as a scholar, around 10 years ago.”

I asked Kaushiki how difficult it was being a singer. Her reply was telling; “As a vocalist, we have no backup, we have only one instrument, the voice! It’s just one voice that we have to live with, and take care of. When I was 17, I used to suffer from Deviated Nasal Symptom (DNS) – one of my nasal passages was blocked. So what happens is, when you sleep, you breathe in from your mouth. After your night’s sleep, when your mouth and throat get very dry, it effects the voice when you sing. So I had a minor surgery to open the block, I went to hospital in the morning and came back in the evening. But even then it was not fully ok, because you are used to breathing through your mouth and you have to re train yourself to breathe only through your nose. Yoga helped me, Baba gave me some pranayama exercises to do, that infact I still do.”

On what concerts mean to her, Kaushiki replied “I love it when I am told that my concerts are different each time. I strive very hard for this; I have been singing since I was 12 and am in my mid thirties now, so hearing that I sound different and not stale, is heartening. I do as much riyaaz as I can, even when I am travelling, as it’s vital. Concerts should be addressed formally attired I feel; I have now started wearing salwar kameez’s sometimes when I sing fusion concerts. It’s really important to be able to breathe really deep while singing, so one can’t wear tight clothes, like, say jeans. Obviously for a classical concert I will only wear traditional saris as I am most comfortable, plus its appropriate, I think.

I asked Kaushiki about her singer husband Parthasarathi Desikan ; she replied “My husband and I were childhood friends, we grew up together, learning music. I think had my husband not been a musician, he would not have been able to remain married to me! He understands and shares my passion, he knows what drives me. It’s not easy to have your wife travelling 20 days in a month. My in laws don’t live with us, so my husband and I run our house together, and without his understanding and support it would have been impossible. Later, my having a child, bringing him up - I am really lucky to have such love support and trust.”

Kaushiki opened up about herself; “I read a lot, it helps me unwind. I have just finished “Flawed” and now started “Perfect”. One of the books that I read, that was life changing for me was “The Untethered Soul”, it’s almost like a text book for me which I carry around! I also read on past life regressions, specifically by Brian Weiss. To relax, I also do crochet, I love colours so I think that’s why I love to crochet, its’s a way of playing with colours. My mind is calm yet my hands are moving. Cooking is another huge de stresser; I simply love to cook!!

Listening to music can never be a de stresser for me, I can’t help but analyse the notes, even of a jazz composition or a pop song. Recently I was telling my home help to pack me something for my son and Partho, my husband, put some music on, and I just totally forgot what I was saying and trying to get done. My brain and mind just don’t function with music on. Music, any form of music, can never be something in the background for me!

As I travel so much, I understand the importance of sleep, which again is necessary to unwind. On a plane I sleep really well, I have very little jet lag! My father can’t sleep at all on a plane and he used to complain to my mother that she sleeps so deep I don’t even know if she is alive!!!! I like watching movies too; I carry a pendrive with movies on, when I am travelling, which my husband recommends for me as he is a huge movie buff.”

I asked Kaushiki about her fitness regime – she admitted “I have been a big gym person – I love to run. After having a child, I was fat and I hated that, so I wanted to gym regularly, but my metabolic rate is high and I started losing too much weight, so my mother and in laws forced me to stop. I now walk occasionally and regularly do Yoga every day.

Talking about her daily regimen, Kaushiki said it varied so much, as she travelled so much. Certain disciplines she tried to stick to – “I wake up at 6.10 am every day, this is a permanent alarm wherever I am in the world, 6.10 India time I wake up! 7.20- 8.30 am is my yoga time. Then I do riyaaz till lunch when my son comes home, and then I am a mother to him till he needs me.”

On this note, we ended our chat.