Kiran Ahluwalia: Poet and Vocalist

I've found, and am constantly reminded, that one of the most curious occurrences in every person's life is the moment(s) of addressing their existential function. Once over the ‘I must be here for a purpose' realization, the question of what that purpose is often can be troublesome and, really, there are few people you'll probably meet in your life who have actually committed themselves to going through the trouble to seek answers.

Kiran Ahluwalia has been developing her skills as a vocalist since about the age of 9. A few years ago these skills, along with her passion for song, lead to focusing her life on music and giving up on her Bay Street financial trading floor job.

Her Punjabi parents moved from Bihar to Canada to raise Kiran in Toronto. She was a busy child and pursued extra-curricular endeavors such as gymnastics, bharat natyam and Indian classical music. It was this last one which she found no difficulty in practicing to no end on her own volition. In fact, she recounted practicing ghazals and other songs every day as a child - going through a collection of 8tracks and LPs (yes, it was the 70s and 80s ;)

This devoted love for singing was encouraged by her family but didn't fit into the picture when looking at a career path - in university she studied Industrial Relations and then worked for a credit union in their Human Resources department. I suppose the situation of that employment is somewhat poetic as she was really questioning her own resources and afraid of the next steps her life could lead her with if she didn't move her own feet:

"All my friends were doing what they wanted to do - teaching English in Japan and going to Europe and I just thought it was unfair... so I thought, ‘I'm going to study music in India full time for a year' and get it out of my system and at least I will be able to say on my deathbed that I did what I wanted to do..."

I gathered that India for Kiran was exciting, encouraging, and at the same time daunting - Exciting because as soon as she got there, she underwent tutelage with Padma Talwalker - a famed master of Agra, Jaipur and Gwalior gharanas (singing styles). As well, she was accepted as a pupil by Vithal Rao afterwards in Hydrabad - a man of famed Ghazal singing prowess - to the effect that he was one of the last living court musicians of the King of Hydrabad! Her encouragement to continue developing as a vocalist came from experiences such as Rao's almost instant decision to accept her. As for being daunted, well, traditional music in India is an integral feature of the larger culture whereas in North America, this not being the case makes it a difficult way to even earn a basic living.

"[In India] I remember not wanting to leave... I remember charting out my life... trying to figure out how can I carry on doing music without getting a job or in any way being responsible (laughs). I did the MBA for the sole reason that in the summers I could come to India and do music for 4 months..."

Of course, getting an MBA also appeased her parents and resulted in a career path leading up the corporate ladder from a trading floor where she worked doing investment financing. Unwilling to deny her inner direction, Kiran faced the ridicule of jumping off the ladder as well as uncertainty regarding how she could pursue music in Canada:

"I think finance is exciting, especially investment finance, I was totally into it, but when I got on the trading floor, that particular floor wasn't for me, had I taken an offer at another bank maybe I would still be trading - its tough though because if you quit you're made to feel like a loser cause you couldn't take it. For me, it wasn't losing, it was moving ahead in my life. After I quit, I didn't know where to go..."

Luckily, friends came through with short term projects for her to work on and she found herself involved with a host of radio, television and magazine productions - including working as the Assistant General Manager of Putamayo music. This was the period where, I think, she realized her potential in music from a holistic perspective - being South Asian Canadian. An interview in Japan, for example, with someone looking for a ‘South Asian sound' but unsure as to what that even entailed, gave Kiran the confidence to take the reigns and make her career, defining her sound in the process, as being a combination of deep-themed ghazals and more accessible lok-geet ("folk songs").

Part of the flux in Kiran's story of embracing and developing her poetry and song may come from its passionate topic matter:

"I am a vocalist, I sing love songs and I also compose many of my ghazals... they're primarily love songs - they're about other types of love as well, not just carnal love - they can be about love for god, or a spiritual leader - your guru, or love for your land... I have one ghazal that is written by the last Emporer of India - Bahadur Shah Zafar... it's a ghazal called ‘yaar ke', written once he had been captured by the British and is never going to see India again - and he says that he is waiting for someone to bring him news of his loved one.. His last breath is upon him... Is sort of stuck at the bottom of his throat, but he is unwilling to let go of it, his loved one in this case is India."

I asked her whether this was true and if the constant address of love in her work has influenced her personal search for love:

"Oh definitely, my friends who are not musicians would consider it really great if they found someone from their own culture, not every single one of those friends, but it sure does make things a whole lot easier, on the top of my list was definitely someone South Asian.. Though I didn't end up with a Canadian; I ended up with an American, which is okay!!" (Laughs)... I came across my husband [Rez Abbasi] while I was reading a review of an Indian jazz CD on a website! One review was of Sunny Jain's - an Indian jazz drummer living in New York. On his website he had a Pakistani guitarist - I emailed Sunny and asked him if his guitarist would be interested in ghazals... Rez ignored that I was asking him about my music and he asked me if I would like to be on his upcoming CD... so I thought ‘okay' - within 3 weeks of our first email contact I met him in New York when I had a concert and right away we pretty much knew where we were heading..."

Married 2 years after meeting, Rez Abbasi and Kiran Ahluwalia are both career musicians and in 2004 she won the prestigious Canadian Juno Award for Best World Music Recording. From having taken her unique ghazal-lok geet sound as far as Finland and Spain, she has also been awarded the 2004 Canadian Arts Presenters' touring Artist of the Year. Early in 2005 Kiran signed an international record deal with Triloka/Artemis and will be releasing her debut album in June!

More info:
http://www.kiranmusic.com/