Madhumita Ray: Breaking Barriers and Defining Classical Music
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Madhumita Ray: Breaking Barriers and Defining Classical Music

She sings bhajans dedicated to Lord Krishna and other bhajans are based on Amir Khusrow’s poems

Madhumita Ray: Breaking Barriers and Defining Classical Music

Meet Madhumita Ray, a well-known vocalist and classical singer from New Delhi. She inherited her talents from her artistically-inclined parents. She is well-known for her performances on both national and international classical music platforms. She sings bhajans dedicated to Lord Krishna and other bhajans are based on Amir Khusrow’s poems. Her seminars and lecture demonstrations on Indian Classical Music have been highly appreciated at various music schools, universities, and institutes.

What was the motivation behind choosing music in life?

She explained that her father, a painter, and extremely famous stamp designer, was also a student of the Agra Gharana, and her mother, a sitar musician, had studied under Annapoorna. Since explained “since I was a little kid, I've always been around while my parents did Riyaas, and occasionally other musicians would stop by to join them. I was drawn to the vibes because the entire setting was centered on music. Because of this, I was able to freely express to my parents that I had grown to appreciate music on my own.

Being a singer, how you can contribute to society?

I have made a lot of contributions through my performances, workshops, and lecture demonstrations. But I also participate in various social activities, have a foundation whose main objective is to raise awareness of issues, and try to do everything I can to make a difference.

Who has been your inspiration throughout your life?

My utmost inspiration was my teacher and all the musicians and primary I feel our culture which is so rich and diverse that it provides a huge inspiration and I love people and doing interaction with them and I had receive good vibes from a lot of people like my friends and family. Moreover, I think inspirations have many forms.

Share your biggest achievement in your journey till now. how did you get that, any story behind that?

Our music is not about success, notoriety, or anything else. There is no end to this perfection and striving, and the main thing is our devotion, which is generally referred to as sadhana. It is about your relationship with music. Every genuine musician aspires to perfection in their craft, as well as in their sensibility and knowledge. The ability to connect with nature is crucial because it influences our music greatly. If you can do that, then you are practicing the true sadhana, which is self-improvement.

At present young people are not into classical music and even they don't understand its importance, so can you help them to build a connection.

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In my opinion, there is no point in claiming that they do not appreciate his classical art and music. However, since every era and time has a different set of values, you cannot judge them. Furthermore, they are dealing with issues in their respective era that I and even my parents' generation dealt with. Earlier, when we started a career there was no such competition, now there is this kind of feeling to achieving goals at any cost, and you have to achieve and it is about perfecting yourself. Therefore, the message I would like to convey to them is that if you are aiming for perfection, you will succeed by working hard and keeping your focus on that objective. Same, that is how to program I am doing and how many awards I have received, and how popular I am there is a distinction between a popular and a competent artist. A fantastic artist may not be popular but his work will get liked by people.

What challenges do women face in the music world which is said to be dominated by the male community? Did you face any challenges?

Unfortunately, it is true, and the biggest challenge is that the expectations from a woman or a man are very different. Everyone expects women to have a career along with they should be perfect in house chores. I will not deprive the fact that doing house chores is a bad thing. I also do that but then when they framed house chores to be the primary work that's not okay, nobody needs to decide things for women.  Give a woman enough space to choose what's best for her, moreover how she wants to allot time. Most of the time people suggest what women should do and what they should not. So let them decide their future.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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