When one thinks of Tibet, one of the first names that comes to mind is the Dalai Lama. Or their scrumptious cuisine. And although most people vaguely know about their battle against Chinese occupation of their territory, very few have a clear picture of the personal struggles that the natives have or are facing in their lives. Delhi based musician Pragnya Wakhlu was also guilty of not knowing much. However a vacation to Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh two years ago changed that.
“My friend Divya Gopalan, a film maker, and I were at an organic cafe when we heard a Tibetan lady singing what sounded like a bird song. Intrigued by it I asked the lady to teach me the song and the meaning of it. Sensing that there was a personal element to the story, I asked her about it and she told me her story,” narrates Wakhlu. “When China occupied Tibet, mayhem broke out and she along with her family was forced to flee from her native village in Tibet. However as her husband was a school teacher there he wasn't allowed to leave so she and her children left.”
The journey was quite risky and the lady and her children had to travel by foot through the mountains in Nepal mostly by night in cold weather, in order to avoid being spotted by the soldiers. “The lady told us that she hasn't been able to go back and hasn't seen her husband in almost 17 years!” discloses Wakhlu who was then motivated to read up more about the Tibet situation and also spoke to many more refugees. “I was shocked to see images of young monks who attempted self-immolation. Buddhism being such a peaceful religion, it was saddening to see the extent that they were going to just get people to hear them,” admits Wakhlu. The more she read up the more she understood about it. “China is a super power and no one wants to mess with them and acknowledge what they are doing. The country is important from trade perspective so everyone including the UN does not acknowledge what they are doing here. And when people have tried to speak up through art and music too, many have just disappeared after that,” states Wakhlu.
And with Dharamshala being one of the biggest refugee sites for these people, many Indians aren't really aware of their situation. This moved Wakhlu to try and change this through her song Burning Fire, which is a mix of two languages - English and Tibetan. Wakhlu took help from a language specialist to get the pronunciation of the Tibetan language just right. Apart from this they also managed to get a Tibetan singer for the chorus part. Shooting for the music video however wasn't without it's complications. “ People were hesitant to come on camera. Before we left, we had mailed a few monasteries asking for permission to shoot but we got no reply. So I told Divya that we should just go there and figure it out. A day before we left our camera man then told us he wasn't coming. But we our vision was clear that we were going to make this video anyhow,” says Wakhlu, adding that a lot of Tibetan people were happy that someone was telling their story. “As an artist one has the responsibility to go out there and put out work that makes a difference,” she says, which is exactly what Wakhlu set out to do when she quit her IT job in the US and moved back to India to pursue music full time. “Whenever my parents used to call me I used to find myself talking more about what my band was upto rather than work projects and I realised that this was because music meant more to me,” says Wakhlu who used to do shows with a Turkish friend in the US. “ Also I wanted to give back to society and make a difference and felt that I would have more influence in my own country than in a foreign one.”
Upon returning to India, Pragnya began performing regularly at different shows both in India and internationally and was part of music festivals like the Divas of Rock, the Kasauli Rhythm & Blues festival, The Storm festival and Bengaluru's Great Indian October Fest. She then went on to release her debut solo album 'Journey To the Sun' worldwide in 2012. Being a female musician however came with it's challenges, admits Wakhlu. “ Being a girl I wasn't taken seriously at first. When I was a part of a band in Pune earlier, whenever I used to come up with an idea for a gig, the bass player wouldn't even look at me. I was like I didn't exist and I found it odd” she says, adding that once people started observing that she had the skills, they were more open to seeing it. “Even then there are guys who say that being a girl it is easy for me to sell music as all I have to do is put on a short skirt. Even when trying to get gigs people will try to exploit you by telling you that you have to go up to a certain group of people and entice them etc. But it is their issue and their old mentality that needs to change, ” states Wakhlu, who also runs her own company Mousai India, which facilitates workshops that aims at enabling people to discover techniques using their own voices and breath and dance to feel more positive, liberated, joyful and in harmony with the world.
“When I came down to India, I worked with a dance therapist and learned about the healing effects of dance and music, following which I founded my own company to take this further where we try out different exercises and experiments to help people become more centred. One of the many exercises that they do is called the chakra touching which finds mention in the Vedas. “There are seven energy centres in the body which are all routed with a different sound. So for instance if you are afraid or lack confidence to speak up there could be an imbalance in the throat chakra. So there is a sound associated with that chakra who had to be chanted continuously and you can feel the shift in energy,” explains Wakhlu. Explaining what she does to prospective clients through these workshops however isn't easy. “People thing that we are just going to make them dance and sing. Corporates in particular are tougher as they want to know how this will visibly increase their profits and aren't convinced about just improving the value of life,” she admits, adding that the whole process has been a humbling experience. “When sales people come around we often don't think much about turning them away but here I have to do a sales pitch myself and I have learnt to see the other side and respect everyone's job,” she says.
Post the release of her new music video on October 9 at Carpe Diem, Majorda, Pragnya will then be turning her focus to another project that is close to her heart “ Kashmir through a musical lens. “We are originally Kashmiri pundits and my grandparents still live there. Although the media largely concentrates only on the terrorism and tourism aspect of the state there is so much more about the place that is not known “ some of the most noted women poets and mystics hailed from Kashmir and even the song 'Bumro' from the film Mission Kashmir has an interesting story behind it which I want to highlight. It will also be a way of returning to my roots,” says Wakhlu, adding that the recording of the songs has been done and should be ready sometime next year.
