At an age when most children of her
age were in their world of fun and games, nine-year-old Kiran
Ahluwalia would accompany her parents for music concerts. Often
the only child at these informal ghazal sessions in the basement
of Toronto houses, Kiran could not understand the lyrics but loved
the music (and also the chai and samosa break). It was the
beginning of an affair that would continue as she pursued
academics and a corporate career, so that she would quit every job
after she made enough money to finance her trip to India to pursue
intense training in Indian classical music and ghazal repertoire.
When she finally decided to become a professional ghazal singer
and debuted with her first CD Kashish, it was nominated in the
World Music Album category for the Juno, Canada's highest music
award. She did not make it, but her second CD titled Beyond
Boundaries too got nominated this year and this time the Juno was
hers. In this interview with Weekend, she talks about her musical
journey and her future plans.
How does it feel to get the
award?
It feels great. The first CD was nominated for
the award, the second got the Juno. So it is absolutely an amazing
experience. It is nice to have that kind of recognition from the
Canadian music industry and professionals in the
industry.
Were you expecting
it?
No, because the competition this year was very
tough. There were some really good artists in the category. So I
thought it is going to be tough. I went to Edmonton where the
ceremony was held, just to partake in the party atmosphere of it
all. I was dreadfully ill that day and I was just waiting for them
to announce my category and then I thought I could go to my hotel
room and claim my real prize - my bed for that night. Then they
announced my name and all three of us (my manager, guitar player
and me) got up and I don't know what they were we saying but I
slowly made my way up to stage and made a
speech.
Tell us about this
CD
It is called Beyond Boundaries and what is
different about this from my last CD is that I have sung ghazals
written by south Asians living in Canada. I discovered to my
pleasant surprise that there were south Asians here who were
writing poetry, in ghazal tradition. So I thought if I find some
nice ghazals and compose them, these are Canadian ghazals and we
are taking part in evolution of ghazals. So that was very exciting
for me. There is also an Afghani musician whom I met in Toronto. I
invited him to come and participate in the CD. He played the
rabbab.
Did you compose all the tunes
yourself?
I have composed many of the tunes. Three of the
tunes I composed were written by Canadian south Asians, there is a
composition by Bulleshah that I composed. There is one traditional
Punjabi folk song and one is my ghazal teacher Vithal Rao's
composition.
You have been raised in Canada, how did
you get interested in Indian classical music, ghazals and Punjabi
film songs?
Through my parents. My parents love music and
they were hobby ghazal singers. They would sing at parties. At
that time because the community was small, ghazal concerts would
happen in small locations in people's homes they would take me
with them and I always loved it. At that time I did not understand
the words of ghazals but loved every part of it. It was a nice
experience. We also went to Bollywood shows where Lata Mangeshkar
and Asha Bhonsle would sing and to Punjabi folk song programmes as
well.
Where did you formally train in
music?
It began in India even as a child, a masterji
used to come to our place, I also learnt kathak and gave a few
exams. I was nine when I left India, when we came here it
continued. It was my teacher Narendra Datar, who suggested I go to
India and learn fulltime. So I spent a lot of my adult life in
India learning music.
When did you go to India to learn
music?
First I went in 1986, when I was 19. I went
during summer to Delhi but it was still not formal. It was in 1990
that I started seriously doing riyaz (practice) eight hours a day,
and that is when I went to Mumbai and found my guruji Padma
Talwalkar. I was there for over 15 months, doing music day and
night. It was a very intense and rigorous schedule. I kept
returning to Mumbai many times to continue learning, but I also
always looking for ghazal ustad. I was learning classical to be a
better ghazal singer. I studied ghazals with Shobha Gurtu for a
while and then Vithal Raoji. I have been learning with Vithal
Raoji since 1996 and I still go back every year. While at
Hyderabad I also a teacher from whom I learnt pronunciation of
Urdu words and their meaning.
What was your parents reaction to your
musical journey?
The initial shock was unpleasant for them and
they tried heavily to convince me not to go to India and invite an
Indian teacher instead to Toronto, but when they realised I was
going to go no matter what, they were very supportive. Their
support has been tremendous - administratively, financially, and
emotionally - without them it just would not have been
possible.
When did you decide to become a
professional musician?
It was very late that I made that conscious
decision. What kept happening was that I would take a year off and
do music and then do something else. So after my MBA, I traded
bonds. Hated it. I left that and did music for a year. Then just
by chance I started singing for various dancers touring Canada for
a year. Then it was in Japan, when doing some music that I
realised that maybe I should look for jobs in music industry. Then
I joined Toronto's CBC radio to work in their music department.
Later I went to New York to work at World Music record label. I
returned to Canada to record a CD. Before the year was over, I had
an agent and a manager and concerts kept rolling in ever
since.
Where did you learn Punjabi
folk?
During one of my visits to India I took time off
and travelled to villages in Punjab (in India and Pakistan) and
met folk musicians. Punjabi folk music, is a little easier to
grasp if you know classical music so it is more about seeing and
observing how they do it.
You have been associated with some jazz
bands. Do you sing jazz as well?
My repertoire is mainly ghazals and
Punjabi folk but I have been approached by many people to do
fusion and jazz. I was approached by Guelph jazz opera to sing in
their jazz opera and bring in some Indian improvisation. So I had
to first learn jazz songs and then bring in Indian influences.
Then I have been touring with Rez Abbassi's jazz group and
performing in Canada as well as abroad.
Do you plan to do more of fusion
music
It is not anything I planned really, it has just
come by the way.
What are you working on
next?
Right now I am composing something for the Rez
Abbassi jazz group. After that I have some new books of ghazals
that have been sent to me by other writers in Canada, so I am
going to be reading those. Right now my main energy is focused on
fixing tours, I am touring Canada and Finland this month. I will
be going to US in September and touring Canada in
November.
Which ghazal singers influenced
you?
The person who influenced me most is Jagjit
Singh, but I also really enjoy listening to Ghulam Ali, Mehdi
Hassan, Madhu Rani and Begum
Akhtar.
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