Teachers' Day: Musicians Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Amit Trivedi, Shekhar Ravjiani on gurus they never met but learnt a lot from

Sonu Nigam

Mohammed Rafi sahab has been like a peer (saint) in my life. From my childhood, my parents instilled this feeling of utmost reverence in my heart for him. I have truly worshipped him. 

And, because of the reverence I developed for him, I started equally respecting every singer from that generation from a very early age. I believe whatever I am today is because of the blessings I have received from my gurus from the music fraternity.

Shekhar Ravjiani

RD Burman sahab aka Pancham Da is one person who I have looked up to, admired, learned from and tried to emulate. He was the greatest inspiration for me in my early years as a musician and his music lives in my playlists permanently. Pancham Da single-handedly revolutionised Hindi Film music in the '70s and paved the way for all of us composers today to be more creative and explore uncharted sonic spaces.

The many innovations he introduced, like mixed rhythm patterns, piquant chords and sound mixing are just some of his gifts to the world, not to mention how beautifully he incorporated traditional Indian ragas and folk music into his contemporary compositions. Every song of his is a lesson in musical craft and creativity and I will be a student of Pancham Da for life. His legacy lives on in many of the songs I have composed for films too, including Jhankaar Beats (2003) and Om Shanti Om (2007).

Amit Trivedi

AR Rahman sir became my guru when I was a kid. Growing up, I learnt so much from him. When Roja (1992) and Thiruda Thiruda (1993) had come, listening to that new sound of music was so fascinating for me as a teenager. That was followed by Humse Hai Muqabala (1994) and Rangeela (1995).

Whatever sir produced in that era was a learning ground for me. Until I started working professionally around 2003, I would only put my headphones on, listen to his music and learn. Rahman sir doesn’t even know how much he’s helped me in my journey as a musician, as I’ve learnt so much from him and his music. I consider myself lucky that I got to eventually meet my childhood guru too.

Shaan

I have been very fortunate to have briefly met both my musical gurus - Kishore Kumar ji and Mohammed Rafi. I don’t have enough words to articulate how much I have learnt from them, through their songs and singing.

I am forever greatfull. (Late musicians) SD Burman, Madan Mohan and Salil Choudhary were also my gurus who I would have loved to meet. Stevie Wonder (American musician) has also been a guru and I would love to meet him someday.

Papon

I come from Assam, where people barely speak in Hindi. But I credit all my love for Hindi and Urdu to (late ghazal singer) Jagjit Singh ji. I was 10 when I got into ghazals and started listening to his LPs.

Listening to him intensely helped me hone my skills as a ghazal singer. Another guru who taught me immensely, but I never met was Pink Floyd. He played a huge role in helping me understand sonic aesthetic.

Shruti Haasan

A teacher I never met but learned a lot from was Frida Kahlo (Mexican painter). Seeing her art work and reading all about her life inspired me as a young girl.

She never played the victim card despite all her challenges and she always stayed a true and authentic voice in her artwork and visual representation to the world.

Akriti Kakar

I never got the chance to directly learn from Jagjit Singh sahab. I wish I got a chance to learn music from him.

His music recordings have been a great source of inspiration for me, not just for the music aesthetic and technique, but also his stage presence, connection with the audience and his sheer wit that had the audience wrapped around his finger. He’s been a teacher to so many of us and he didn’t even know it!