A trip down the musical lane

Today she is a musician to reckon with and contributes to the Indian classical flag flying high in the western shores. Hindustani vocalist Srivani Jade grew up and completed her education in Hyderabad.

It is nearly 25 years since she completed her 10th grade, in 1990, from St Ann's School (BHEL). She completed her college education at St Ann’s College (Mehdipatnam) and Engineering from JNTU (Kukatpally).

Currently, she shuttles between USA where she conducts the University of Washington School’s program on Ethnomusicology , and Bangalore for constantly seeking guidance from her Guru Pandit Parameshwar Hegde.

Was music in your family?
My father Bhavani Prasad Jade used to play many musical instruments and thus music was always hovering around in our house. My summer holidays took me to Sangli and Miraj in Maharashtra, where I got an opportunity to spend time with many stalwarts and contemporaries of classical music.

In Seattle, USA Dr Sharad Gadre guided me, in my pursuit of music. Later, I had the good fortune of studying under Pandit Parameshwar Hegde from the year 2002.

Can you tell us about your days in Hyderabad?
It’s great nostalgia to pass by the All India Radio station (AIR) as that was the only place where I used to sing in Hyderabad, as a Child Artiste. And I cannot forget my tryst with Telugu poetry.

I remember the days of studying the works of Pothana, Gurazada Apparao and Rayaprolu Subbarao. Hyderabad has changed a lot. When we used to travel from BHEL to Koti via Mehdipatnam; there hardly used to be anything on both sides of a rather narrow road. Today the corridor is full of malls, restaurants and lot of greenery. It looks very beautiful. Music has brought me back to the city.

What brings your deep interest in ‘Khayal’ form of singing?
‘Khayal’ gives me an opportunity to slowly explore any ‘raga’. ‘Khayal’ word means nothing but ‘imagination’. And it’s this very freedom that I cherish when I start working on any raga.

There are so many variations to this freedom of expression. This includes compositions on different seasons of nature, love, separation and many emotions of life. Can you believe that I have made a composition about ‘squirrels playing in my backyard

Which musicians have inspired your journey in music?
The soulful singing of Ustad Amir Khan and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan have always inspired me and kept my passion alive.

How do you find performing across the Globe?
Surprisingly, I have never found it challenging performing at various festivals across the globe.

In fact I sing in different languages like Hindi, Kannada, Marathi or Urdu. And everywhere, these compositions have been equally appreciated. This clearly shows that music is universal and can have no barriers.