From Indian Idol to Family Man, Aabha Hanjura is making folk music mainstream.
🎥: Aabha Hanjura
🎥: Aabha Hanjura
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MusicTranscript
00:00🎵Hukkus hukkus teluvan chukkus🎵
00:02🎵Onnum patuk lutum deg🎵
00:04🎵
00:24🎵Ek ishta khamani kyu🎵
00:27🎵
00:35My parents are survivors of that and I am therefore a first generation survivor of the genocide.
00:41🎵
00:57I was just 17 and I had just come out of Jammu.
01:00As a small town girl, that whole experience for me was really, you know, like it was overwhelming.
01:07Abha.
01:08Yes, sir.
01:09You sang very well.
01:10Thank you so much, sir.
01:11And I am very happy.
01:12So it was great from that point of view. I got a lot of exposure.
01:15But at the same time, I think it was also not a very safe space for women, the music industry back then.
01:23You are first judged by, you know, your gender before your talent.
01:29🎵
01:41I was a corporate honcho and, you know, doing very well with my career, grew very fast.
01:48But at the same time, there was this void.
01:50🎵
02:02And it was very, very emotional. It really changed something in me.
02:06🎵
02:18We connected it to love and belonging and hope, you know, this whole story of Kashmir.
02:27🎵
02:40🎵
03:08I wanted to catalyze a positive dialogue and like talk about Kashmir in a positive light
03:15because people only talk about it from the point of view of terrorism or tourism.
03:19🎵
03:23It's coming from a very liberal place.
03:26It is coming from a place of telling very real, authentic, actual, original stories.
03:32And its expression is very free.
03:35🎵
03:48When your roots are brutally cut from under you, you try harder to preserve them.
03:52🎵
04:02🎵
04:06It's got a deeper philosophical meaning.
04:08But like any other such songs, you know, it was dumbed down for kids and, you know, was told as a rhyme.
04:14So I felt like this is something cool to carry forward.
04:17And I think that folk can be cool.
04:19And I have always believed that it is really cool.
04:22🎵
04:31🎵
04:41🎵