Rasika Sekhar is a mellifluous melange of east and west

A chemical engineer by qualification, Rasika Sekhar’s music is an eclectic alchemy of musical genres from east and west — Hindustani, Carnatic, ghazal, jaaz, blues and sufi. The multi-faceted artiste, who wowed city’s music lovers with her mesmerising ghazal recital and flawless flute notes on Sunday, took us through how she made the shift from pharmaceutical industry to Bollywood.Excerpts:
Music runs in my genes
My mom’s side of the family were all musicians. My grandmother is a violinist, my mom is a veena player. But I was not really connected to music until much later. My aunt was my first teacher. I kind of forced into it. I had to learn some kind of art, so music was it. Though I was not inclined towards music, it was in my genes. I started enjoying it since I was in my high school and grew very passionate about Carnatic music. I started spending a lot of my free time learning, performing and participating in music competitions.
Flute fascinated me
One day, I found an old flute in a balcony in Dubai (where she was born). And I tried playing it because the instrument fascinated me. During Janmasthami when we had to dress up like little Krishna, I would fetch the flute and just try to play it. My mom remembered it, so when we moved to the US, she found me a phenomenal teacher, Dr Bhavani Rao and that’s how I started learning at the age of 13.
Learning ghazals from Gulam Ali
Ghazals caught my attention when I was in college when I discovered Mehdi Hussain saab’s ghazals. I fell in love with his poetry instantly and started listening to ghazals and reading his poetry. I gradually moved on to Gulam Ali Khan saab, and Jagjit (Singh) saab. After graduating from college when I was performing at an event, one of the organisers asked me if I can come on tour with Ghulam Ali Khan saab. I was in a daze. For the entire first year I kept pinching myself, revelling in the fact that I was part of his troupe. He was very
encouraging and would say, “Tum bohut achha gaati ho, bohut sur mein gaati ho. Tumhare andar woh rooh hai...” I started singing with him during my second and third year and that pushed me to work harder. During our journeys, he used to talk about scales, tala, poetry and how to reyaz. It was incredible.
And then I felt the itch for music
Pursuing a career in music, especially in Bollywood never crossed my mind. After completing chemical engineering, I decided to give myself six months to learn a bit of Hindustani Classical music. And India was the best place for that. I was living in the US then and I moved to Bombay. After six months, I went back to the pharmaceutical industry, helping my dad with his business in Chennai. But then there was an itch. I missed music. I realised it is my calling. Thus I went back and started focusing on music again. That’s how it all started... And then, one thing led to the other and Bollywood beckoned, and here I am.