In town for a performance this Saturday, musician Susheela Raman of The Namesake fame believes in free flowing music and is breaking many a barrier to create a new genre

Born in London, hailing from Thanjavur, a small temple town in the state of Tamil Nadu, brought up in Sydney and currently living in the UK, Susheela Raman could well be called an urban gypsy. And her music is as global as her many residential adressess. Catch this globetrotting singer who will be making a pittstop at Opus, as part of a Christmas festival line-up in jugalbandi with Rajasthani folk musicians Chuggee Khan on the Morchang (Jews Harp), Kutle Khan on the Morchang, Kartals and Bhapang (percussion), Nathoo Lal Solanki, a Nagara Player.


Susheela Raman

"This one is going to be a high energy Rajasthan meets London performance. Also expect a few tracks from my forthcoming album," Susheela shares in a telephonic interview.

Her musical journey began at four when she moved to Sydney with her Tamil Brahmin parents. "My parents wanted me to grow up Tamilian and made me train in classical Carnatic music from an early age. My aunt was a musician and my parents were musically inclined, not professionals but they were linked to music emotionally. I have been used to my mother hosting bhajan sessions in Australia," Susheela says.

Her training in classical music went on till the age of 14, after which she got into rock 'n' roll and soul music. "I was quite rebellious, singing in bars in Sydney at that time though that was a strong discipline to learn," Susheela says.

She admits to having had her times of undergoing a cultural clash. "Living like an Australian teenager was very different at that time from how it is now. My culture was not recognised outside. Things have changed now with globalisation and Indians are no more a mere small majority in Australia," explains the 37-year-old singer.

The real change happened when she was nearly five years into playing rock music. "It was then that I found the need to reconnect with everything Indian. From the musical point of view I wanted to use both influences and create something new and find an original voice. In my early 20s and in UK at that time, I spent nearly six years in experimentation. The underground music scene was finding its voice in the country around then and it was a good time," she says.

The change began then and Susheela continues to follow her instincts and her music blend the sound that led her to retain her Tamil roots. Her captivating voice has broken numerous barriers and her new project intends to transcend them all and invent a new genre called Outer Indian. "We have had a lot of artists unite under this genre. The idea is to connect to the Indian subcontinent but not in a strict generic way. Also, to retain South Asian roots without signifying ethnicity in any way," she explains.

Susheela has four albumsu00a0 like Salt Rain and the critically acclaimed including Music for Crocodiles to her credit. From this album, The Same Song was used for the soundtrack of the Mira Nair film The Namesake as was her version of the 60s song Yeh Mera Deewanapan Hai. "Music is free.

You can play rock n roll on a sitar and so on. It's time people got free about musical ways. Let people use music the way they want, let it transform and let it change. Nobody should monopolise culture," Susheelau00a0 who has no set play list and plans on the stage set for her says.

At: The Dewarists Stage at Opus, Palace Cross Road
On: December 18, 9 pm
Call: 3391 0452 / 98440 30198
For: Rs 330