Singer Rekha Bharadwaj: Fortunate to always get a lot of love

Kabira, Judaai, Genda Phool, Ghagra, Darling haven’t we all jived to these hit songs at birthdays, weddings, and other get-togethers? There is something about the way each note in these songs is rendered — it isn’t just her silky yet utterly sharp voice but an indescribable emotion which endears itself to your heart instantly.

Rekha Bharadwaj captivated us all with some beautiful Sufi renditions and her popular hits at the ‘Pandit Jasraj’s 52nd Pandit Motiram Pandit Maniram Sangeet Samaroha’, organised by the Pandit Jasraj Cultural Foundation in CCRT, Madhapur. Catching her breath after a tremendous performance, the veteran speaks to CE about her music, performance in Hyderabad, and more.

Excerpts

 You sang some beautiful Sufi songs at the event. What do you think about the role of women in the Sufi tradition?

Sufi — it is basically poetry. When dervishes whirl, they keep their right hand facing up to receive God’s blessings and left hand pointing down to share those blessings with the Earth.

While only male qawwals can perform in dargahs due to religious reasons, there are wonderful female qawwali singers out there too; qawwali comes from the heart. One beautiful thing about Sufism is that it talks about howhumans must genuinely accept that they carry ego, jealousy, and other negative emotions, and work on resolving those emotions. We are human beings after all.

You started learning music along with your sister. Could you take us through your journey?

Growing up, there was an environment at home which always encouraged music. My father was a great lover of music and when my mother got married to him, she also became deeply interested in music. He made all of us learn music. My sister used to wake up at 4.30 am and practice Hindustani Classical music with the tanpura. We even had a radio which would play a variety of songs.

I was eight years old when I first heard Pandit Amarnath ji’s music. I even met Amarnath ji once or twice at a Doordarshan competition. I was mesmerised by his voice. When it came to learning from a guru and papa would ask around, I would always vehemently say, ‘No, I will choose my own guru.’

I went on to receive formal training from Amarnath ji — what an encouraging guru he was! He was like a tree, giving me both shade and grounding. He is my biggest inspiration and my Mecca-Medina. In fact, I’ve been fortunate to always get a lot of love as I learned music, be it from my sister or my guru.

Apart from singing plenty of Hindi songs for Bollywood, you’ve also sung in Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali, and Malayalam. What is your secret to rendering hits in different languages?

It isn’t hard actually. Singing Punjabi songs was quite easy because I was born and brought up in Delhi, hearing Punjabi all around me. Similarly, Bengali is a language I’d been hearing too so I picked up a little.

When I came to Mumbai, I started hearing Marathi and though I couldn’t speak the language, I understood about 30–40 percent of it. But I will say that singing in South Indian languages is hard for me; after a certain age, it becomes difficult to pick up those little nuances.

I cannot afford to make errors as sensitivities are involved. I agreed to sing the Malayalam song Doore Doore because they wanted a different voice. There were actually gaps in my singing but they forgave it because they liked my voice and understood the soul that went into it. Someone asked me to sing Telugu songs but I said no — I do not want to mess with any language. However, actor Siddharth said he will make me sing in Telugu! (laughs)

What are your thoughts on the younger generation of singers?

They are absolutely wonderful singers, filled with so much talent! They do so much multitasking, which I can’t seem to do. But amid the multitasking and involvement with the outside world, they don’t journey within themselves. That, I believe, is most important for an artiste.

What do you think of the Hyderabadi audience?

Oh, I just love the audience in Hyderabad! This city is culturally very rich and has a good mix of traditions. People here speak great Hindi; perhaps because of their knowledge of the language, they enjoy music more and understand the deeper meanings in the words.

— Story by Nitika Krishna