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[On 16th-19th January, 2019, Homegrown is throwing a first-of-its-kind music festival in Mumbai designed to celebrate the city’s vast and diverse music culture. Dive deep into a wide variety of dynamic workshops, exhibitions, curated tours, panels, pop-ups, performances and parties that promise to be inclusive of all kinds of tastes and people.
There’s something for everyone, click here to find what’s perfect for you.]
“Hukus bukus teliwan su kus
Moh batuk lodum deg
Shwaas kich kich waang mayam
Bhrimji haras pyone chokum
Tekis takha banye tyuk”
Pragnya Wakhlu hastily jots down the lyrics of one of her favourite childhood game, reminiscing of a particular summer vacation she spent at her grandparents in Srinagar in the early 90’s. There’s something about Hukus bukus, a popular philosophical rhyme based on Kashmiri Shaivism that touches her deeply and overwhelms her in a happy sort of way. A more pleasant escape route into the beautiful valleys of Kashmir, that for too long have been stained by blood, war and hatred. “That’s the perception I want to change through my music. Kashmir is about so much more than terror,” says Pragnya, echoing a sentiment many Kashmiri artists resonate with. As the Delhi-based Kashmiri musician introduces us to her new album, Kahwa Speaks, it turns out the music expresses the sentiment just as well all on its own.
Named after the traditional Kashmiri tea, this is a more than just a music album. It’s a movement started by Wakhlu that aims to introduce the world to the hidden facets of Kashmiri culture and help preserve the language by means of a live audio-visual tour and story-telling. Born in Srinagar and raised in Pune, Pragnya was as interested in music as she was in exploring her Kashmiri roots. As a child, she would often visit Kashmir in the summers and hear her grandmother play the sitar for hours. She would dance around the cherry trees and would go for long shikaara rides in the Dal Lake.
Having not grown up in Kashmir, most people would think that Pragnya remained far from the atrocities of cross-border tension. However, her own grandparents were kidnapped by terrorists for 45 days. After their release they still refused to leave their home state and Pragnya wondered what was it that kept them back there. “When you have a strong connection with a place called home, no matter what happens you keep wanting to go back and I did too, to learn about the different facets of the stunning state,” she explains.
Pragnya’s journey into music happened in her formative years and she was even part of a college band. Although she qualified as an engineer and worked as one in Infosys in USA, she never stopped pursuing music. She started by writing about simple things in life that inspired her and gave her debut performance in Seattle where she was part of Seattle Women’s Music Showcase. Music has always been a form of self-expression for her, a passion that she deeply wanted to involve herself with, thus she quit her job and dedicated herself to storytelling though music. She is also a professional sound therapist.
Kahwa Speaks is her second album, after ‘Journey to the Sun’ which released in 2012. “After the trouble began, a lot of people moved out of Kashmir and the generations after them have never been there. The language too is dying out.What these generations know about Kashmir is what they have heard from their parents or what they read in the media. With Kahwa Speaks I want to take them to Kashmir,” Pragnya says explaining her inspiration behind the songs.
The six songs In the album which are in Kashmiri but include English translations are a mix of contemporary takes on the poems of Lal Ded and Habakhatoon, the traditional Wanwun and original compositions that are aimed at spreading the message of peace and unity, strictly keeping away from any political agendas. The music is upbeat with a slight folky sound to create musical renditions that are a reflection of how most Kashmiri migrants grew up, with diverse modern influences, yet holding a strong connection to their roots. The album also features a powerful yet a soulful song, “Burning Fire,” which is in Tibetan and English. The song aims to bring awareness to the often ignored and very critical issue of self-immolations in the Tibetan community and their struggle to preserve their identity, a cause Pragnya feels strongly about.
Kahwa speaks has been a dream come true for Pragnya as she now prepares for a crowdfunded world tour with her album that will not only see her perform but also spread awareness about the culture of the state and tell stories about the song that will be illustrated live in the background as she performs. Her music is all set to transcend the spell-binding valleys of Kashmir and reach out to the rest of the world.
To listen to Pragnya’s music, click here.
You can visit her website here.
You can reach out to Pragnya on twitter @pragnyawakhlu and visit her Facebook page here.
Disclaimer: Their are many versions of the Kashmiri rhyme, Hukus Bukus. The one mentioned above is what the artist Pragnya Wakhlu has incorporated in her album.
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