Music is the best medicine

Not many youngsters would ditch a doctorate for a career in Indian classical music. But Ashwini Bhide Deshpande was always clear that one day she would have to make a choice between a lucrative career and her passionu00a0 -- singing. And though she misses all that biochemistry research, she's never regretted her decision. Gearing up for the 33rd Pratahswar, a morning raga concert (6:30 am) on Sunday at Ravindra Natya Mandir, she talks to CS about making Indian classical music global:


WHO: Ashwini Bhide Deshpande
WHAT: Talking about popularising Indian classical music

Yeh hi hai right choice
Opting for music wasn't an overnight decision for me. I had been in touch with singing even while studying medicine, so I knew where my real interest lay. And even after all these years, I can safely say that I did the right thing. I might not have made the same money or name, but I have a satisfaction that goes beyond all that. And since I've been there, done that, I like talking to youngsters about my journey. I travel quite frequently and whenever I'm asked to address students, I coax them into a simple experiment (that science streak hasn't gone, you see!). I ask them to draw a picture while I am singing and we compare images after my performance. It is amazing to see how they interpret classical music.

Wooing the young and restless
This is important to do because, unfortunately, the youth aren't very appreciative of Indian classical music. They think that it is too meditative and not their cup of tea. They need to get that out of their heads if they want to truly understand our music. But having said that, I don't think that any amount of brainwashing is going to make a difference. On a personal level, I think that I can only better myself to draw people to my music.

Going places
People say that Bollywood should play a greater role in promoting Indian classical music, but I beg to differ. I concede that we often find a classical touch in our film songs, but that's usually clubbed with fusion. Even in the past, we've had purely classical numbers, but those songs have become popular and not the genre. I think our music is like yoga, it needs to be presented before the world. And for that, we don't need a few artists to do that in their individual capacities, we need the nation to take pride in our roots.