Thursday 2 May 2013

Pragnya: Naive passion

I think this post started as a part of a kitchen conversation on the side a few months ago. On the backdrop of Motorcycle diaries. Do you always know what your passion is, or do you travel inside to find it out? Should one have a passion? Learning Deutsch clearly helps me distinguish. 'Sollen' (should) - gets used post someone else's suggestion. So then, must one live life through the lens of someone else's should?

I always found it fascinating (and also was enamoured a bit) after meeting someone with a strong interest. It took me an awful while to be comfortable with the fact that I could not identify a single personal passion which kept me awake in the night. I live life willing to experience and learn the new.
Still these passion people always entice me.

Here's one who gave up her job for music. I heard "Naive" on oklisten first and got in touch. It's nice to see 'performers' be quick in replying too. I like the details, her voice. Below.

TFSM: What made you move towards an alternate field?
Pragnya: I was working in America with Infosys for a retail firm .During my time there I became very reflective about my life. I was enjoying my job at first but I soon realized that I was meant to be doing something that would make a bigger difference to people’s lives. I always enjoyed music from my childhood days. I learnt Indian classical music from my best friend’s mother and would look forward to going to her place every evening, sitting on the floor with the harmonium and singing. I realized that every time mom and dad called to ask about what’s happening at work, I would only talk about the band we formed, the shows we did  and how much fun we were having. It was when I was working in America that I started writing my own songs. I played one of them for a musician friend and he liked it and said “Lets record it” .So we recorded it at his homestudio. That encouraged me and I started writing more songs, did my first show ,spent a lot of nights rehearsing after work and decided that this is what makes me the happiest.That was the moment of truth for me.




TFSM: Do you wake up sometime thinking about the social pressures of the “conventional”?
Pragnya: Sometimes it happens quicker,sometimes it takes a little longer.Patience is key.One has to be patient with people who question you for your unconventional career choices, patient when you see friends earning more than you or getting promoted,patient when you are denied performances because venues think you don’t have the capacity to draw a large enough crowd,patient with the naysayers.Finally one day when your efforts are rewarded it is worth all the days you doubted yourself when you were under pressure from what the world thought of you.I don’t stress over fitting into any mold.

PS: It's also a good oklisten album to get. It's interesting to have a language mix too.

1 comment:

  1. Hey!! How did you find Pragnya!!! She's shikha's best friend Nitya's little sister.We all love her so much!!

    ReplyDelete

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