In an age when most of us, including children, are glued to technology, eleven-year-old Khanak Joshi does just the opposite. She does a reverse turn when it comes to technology and spends all her time playing the harmonium and singing. “The only time I use technology is when I have to use the computer for my studies or project work.”
The young singer is into Sufi music and has learnt Urdu to make her “pronunciation sound authentic and be able to emote perfectly while singing.” Khanak, who started singing at the age of three started performing when she was only five. Now, she is well-known in the world of Hindustani and Sufi music. She even has her own website and has uploaded her songs on YouTube. But that’s not all! She also won the Shankar Mahadevan Contest three years ago, organised by Shankar Mahadevan Academy.
“Being a winner brought me to Bengaluru three years ago. I won the scholarship to study at the Indus International School and also learn music at his academy,” beams the young girl, whose sponsorship is jointly shared by Shankar Mahadevan and the Indus International School.
Why Sufiana music? She replies, “I got interested because of my father. He was listening to some music and I was drawn to it. It is only now I realise it was Sufi music. I believe I was drawn to it as I felt it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.” To keep her interest in music, her parents sent Khanak to learn Hindustani music. “But, when I was five, my father took me to a dargah where I heard people singing Sufi music. Their soulful music and the beautiful lyrics touched me in such a strong way I just can not express it. I could see from their expression that they were connected to god. I made up my mind that it was Sufi music that I wanted to learn. As I could not understand Sufi music, I wanted to learn the language and started my Urdu training and also continued training in Hindustani,” says Khanak, who adds that she then spent most of her time listening to many Sufi music — qawwali and kalams.”
“I love Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan saab,” she says, “His voice, pronunciation and even his expressions are unmatched. I would watch and listen to many singers for hours and learning Urdu too helped me understand what I sang and emote better through my voice.”
She adds that she loves both Hindustani and Sufi music as both are special to her. “Neither form is easy nor difficult, but I feel they are interconnected as some classical tunes do have bandishes in Urdu. Even listeners understand what we sing. So I make sure I first know the meaning of what I am singing.”
Khanak now learns from Ustad Harikrishnan Pahwa (Bengaluru), from Ustad Ghulam Murtuza Khan Niyazi (Karachi ) and from Ustad Tanveer Ahmed Khan (New Delhi). She has been awarded the Mumtaz Shreen Award this year by the Karnataka Urdu Organisation Mehfil-e-Nisha. She was also invited to perform at Jashn-e-rekhta said to be one of the world’s biggest Urdu festivals, held in Delhi. The singer shared the stage with names like Gulzar, Prem Chopra, Annu Kapoor, to name a few. Though she has decided on a career in singing, Khanak believes she has to finish her education. “I know it will help me later and is important.”
Khanak says she is grateful to her mother, who “works really hard for me. My father helps me grow as an artiste. But she does all that she can to support me financially.”
Will she be open to contemporary music in the future and collaborate as her mentor — Shankar — has with western artistes? “No, I love the traditional and don’t want to mess up the classical style. It is beautiful as it is. I also feel more comfortable with everything traditional,” says Khanak, who also sings in Persian, Hindi and Punjabi.
