Morung Express News
Kohima | September 30
Sharing his journey of how he left home and how the entire world became his home, Padmashri Kailash Kher, Spiritual & Bollywood Sufi Singer, Lyricist and Music Composer on Wednesday remarked that “every soul is a celebrity because God has made everyone with so much emotion and passion.”
Addressing a talk show on making a career in music industry organized by the District Administration & DLCW- Mahila Shakti Kendra (BBBP), Phek, and broadcasted live, Kailash Kher said, “Music is the language of emotions. We are all emotional people, and yet we live in the world of mindful people. So the balance we need to make between the mind and the soul is the biggest task in today’s times.”
‘Music and musicians can be respected’
Every musician’s duty in today’s times, he said “is to prove that music and musicians can be respected as anybody who is doing MBA, MBBS, engineering, or any other field” while elucidating that artists in general do not have the same respect.
To earn that respect, he emphasized that “before we earn money, we need to earn hearts, we need to earn souls and this is the biggest lack during these times of the pandemic.” Talking about the virtual shows he has been doing, he shared that “all the physical illness are based on mental illness and the mental illness is being cured by art and creativity”.
However, he said there has been a communication gap, lack of marketing and branding in this regard despite people getting cured and benefitted, and we are getting the impact of art and music. Highlighting the importance of music and art, he stated that “we need to exchange our culture, explore, go across, collaborate and mingle.” “Not only people of Nagaland, and the whole of North East sings, but the trees and plants sing as well,” he noted while referring to the “natural places where you are awestruck.”
Nagaland and North East, he said is a land of miracle and went on to say, “let us exchange this miracle. Let us not be stuck to our own borders.” In this regard, he also pointed out that music is the only thing that flows across the borders. He further impressed upon that “music purifies us” and that musicians can play a big role towards making this world more beautiful.
‘Look at music as a career’
Taking the audience through the journey of Tetseo Sisters, Mercy Tetseo, Musician, Folk Artist & Storyteller impressed upon how their musical journey started from a very long time ago, with trial and error, but also with the divine grace of being at the right time and the right place.
Looking at the way people have responded to the kind of music that they make, in Chokri—a dialect spoken by very few people, Mercy Tetseo put across that “it is also the concerted efforts that goes into it and how we brand it.” Towards this end, she also emphasized that it has got to do a lot with packaging your art. Along the way, “you really need to network,” she added. She also encouraged young people to look at music as a career even if they are from a small town.
Scope in music industry in Nagaland
Also speaking on the occasion, Vesato Theluo, Managing Director & Founder of Nagaland College of Music & Fine Arts, Conductor, Composer & Arranger, noted that “we have bright career and scope in music industry in Nagaland.” He highlighted careers that involve music, the benefits of music education, why music and fine arts is important in education, why music is so powerful and if one can make a living through music.
Encouraging young Nagas to take up music both as a hobby and a profession, he said, 10-20 years back, this was not possible but now, people are realising its importance and many young talented people are already making a living out of music. In this regard, he challenged young people to have focus and discipline, patience as a musician, and further encouraged them to learn our own indigenous music.
Earlier, in his keynote address, Sachin Jaiswal, IAS, DC Phek noted that Nagaland is a land of culture, music, and tradition, wherein each and every household has a musician or a singer. He expressed hope that the talk show would help and motivate people to hone their skills further, and also learn how they can use the wonderful talent that they have.
Bhavani Sri IAS, SDO Civil Phek & Nodal Officer Bbbp gave the closing remarks. Weto Losou was the moderator for the talk show.
