What does music mean to you? A quest beyond barriers

Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya is synonymous with the bansuri. He believes in sharing music through the Guru-Shishya tradition

Music is everywhere. When I was little, my mother used to hum a lullaby while feeding me. It would always sound good! I was eight when I heard the flute on the Air India Radio in Allahabad for the first time. I cycled to the radio station and met Pt. Bholanath, who was playing it. He taught me for the next 2-3 years. I stole my first flute from a boy who was busy drinking water (laughs)! Music is my life, my love, my religion.

Hasnain Nizami is Qawwal in Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi. He inherited Qawali from his family, where it's reigned for 750 years

My ancestor Ustad Tanras Khan was a key singer in Bahadur Shah Zafar's darbar but it was my father, Ustad Mehraj Nizam, who compiled everyone's kalam (work) and published it in the form of a book. When I was seven, he asked me to perform a kalam and I sang Chap Tilak Naina Mujhse Naina Milaiolo. I have been singing ever since.

Qawali rooh ki ghiza hain (It is the need of my soul, which keeps it alive). My music means telling a public gathering, what someone has told me. It means peace.

Arjun Sagar Gupta believes in music's power to move the capital city. He is the piano man behind Delhi's young jazz haunt, The Piano Man

I always believed that music is not about virtuosity but about how well you can emote through it. When your listener can feel the emotion that you are feeling while playing an instrument or singing, then you've mastered an instrument. In my case, music is the go-to for every emotion. It's everything through which I vocalise and verbalise myself. I've built my life around music. It makes me... happy!

Subha Mudgal's powerful voice brings joy to lovers of Indian music. Her happiness lies in rooting for conservation of musical traditions and diversity

Music has enriched me in so many ways. Yet today, as we talk about World Music Day, look at the condition of music and musicians. What is being promoted is only one form of music. It drowns out some of the finest talent we have. This doesn't bode well for the rich, diverse regional, folk and classical traditions that have come down to us through the ages! And I can scarcely think of what life will be, without music.

Gangwani Babu is a common sight on busy Mumbai locals. The visually- and hearing-impaired alms-seeker loves music but doesn't enjoy singing

Sangeet sunne se dil behel jaata hai; mujhe purane gaane pasand hai, naye digital waale nahin. I can't bear the sound, it hurts. Having received braile-aided schooling and further education, I tried getting a steady income through odd jobs like selling toys and typing — I know how to type, but my weak hearing made it tough. None of that worked out, so, a year ago, I resorted to singing and seeking alms on local trains. It fetches me about Rs 300 per day. Lekin mujhe gaana pasand nahin hai; mera sur mel hi nahin khaata. Apart from Tumhi ho mata, pita tumhi ho/ tumhi ho bandhu, sakha tumhi ho...which I usually sing on the trains, I know one other song—Dehachi Tijori. I tried learning Shashtriya sangeet, par mujhe Saraswati prapt nahin hui. Koi log sur ke saath hi paida hote hain.

DJ Stuckinthetrees is a rapper and beat-maker from Los Angeles, who played at a Mumbai bar last month

Music means food! Without it, I go crazy. I have always considered music and diet as parallels. Sometimes we eat/listen to anything because we are hungry or maybe it's the popular thing-to-do? At other times, we re-evaluate the end result on what brings nutrition to our ears and body. Although I'm picky with my music and what I eat, I try not to limit myself. At times, I need soul music and at other times, I need out-of-control music. In the same way, at times I need my lentils and salad and at other times, I only want pastries and pizza. Music makes it possible to have my cake and eat it too.

Raghu Dixit is a singer and a songwriter and the man behind the contemporary folk band The Raghu Dixit Project

Other than music, there is nothing else I wake up for every morning. I have earned a lot of things through music and for it, I have lost everything too. Take music away and I am nothing.

Ajay Sharma plays the sitar. He is also the third generation proprietor of Delhi's Rikhi Ram Store of musical instruments, which has it's roots in Lahore

Music is everything to me. I have been surrounded by music since childhood. My grandfather, Pt Rikhi Ram, was a musician in Lahore, and made his own instruments. When his fellow musicians heard those, they asked him to make instruments for them as well. That's how our store started, sometime in the early 1920s. We came to Delhi following the partition, but the family tradition continued, and we are now in Connaught Place. Over the years, this place has seen visitors like George Harrison, Norah Jones, Anoushka Shankar, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia and others.

Shantanu Moitra is a music director who seeks out poetry and music in nature. He is pursuing a project called 100 days in Himalaya

For my project, I am spending 100 days in the Himalays. There, I've met travellers. When we sit down in the cold outdoors, with a cup of tea, the one overwhelming thought is that all our belief systems, socio-political and personal, have been shaken up. But still, none of us have stopped listening to music. That's because music is the one force that hasn't failed us. It can transcend borders, be an unifier for the world.
When I hear breeze travel through oak trees, a gurgling brook or a shepherd's flute, that is music. Anything that sharpens my sense and elevates my being is music

Ani Choying Drolma is a Nepalese Buddhist nun and musician from Nepal. A deeply personal blend of melody and holy chants has earned her a global audience and collaborations

I've always been a rhythmic person. At the Nagi Gompa monastery, I learnt music and the power of human compassion from my spiritual father Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. You may describe my music as World Music, but when I'm singing, I am just trying to understand the nature of all existence. The aspiration is to cause people happiness.

Personally, music puts me in a state of connection with myself—free of hopes and fears. The purest, most natural state of the human mind.

Mohini Dey is a young guitar prodigy who's played with artistes like Louis Banks and AR Rahman

I have been playing the bass guitar for around 12-years now, and not a day goes without it. It is like a diet. I remember how my father made me a wooden base guitar when I was just three, he has been my first and only teacher. I cannot picture my life without music.

Maxwell Pereira is a retired Joint Commissioner of Police and a member of choral group Capital City Minstrels

Music goes beyond words. It is a universal force, and a great leveler. It can be understood by everyone, no matter what language they speak. Growing up in a Christian family in Mangalore, singing in the choir was common. For me, it started at the age of five. As an adult, sadly, other considerations got in the way of music but I always took a lot of interest in the performance of the police band.

Manoj Ramakant Sharma, 46, is a busker. He performs at metro stations, malls and sea-faces across Mumbai

Music, for me, is an eternal blessing from God. I've been playing the tabla and the dholak in public spaces for three years now. Sometimes, I add ghungroos and shakers to the beats for my audience, who are always on the move. With 8-9 hours of practice and the day's work, there's hardly any time left for my family. In that sense, music is sacrifice. But the same music leads me to experiences where grandmothers come up to bless me for taking away their weariness.

Rudra Krishna, 36, is a vocalist and rhythm guitarist who grew up in Chennai. He runs the Terrace Jam project, which features independent, upcoming artists

Music is the one thing that keeps me sane... from falling off the edge. It's my companion. I started the Terrace Jam Project because it is the one place every Indian connects with—has fond childhood. memories of. As for music on the roof, it allows you to be in public view, yet intimate.

Peeru Khan, 25, is a Manganiyar musician from Jaisalmer's Sonu village. He plays the harmonium, the kamaicha and the matka

Music! Music is what we inherit when we are born! I've got the gift of music from my ancestors—from my father and grandfather. For us, the practise of this music is intrinsic to how we spend each day... singing and playing our instruments. It's sad that the next generation isn't keen to pursue music the way we have traditionally been doing so.

Harshdeep Kaur is a playback singer known for her earthy Punjabi melodies and vibrant stage appearances

Music toh duniya ke kan kan mein hain. As a child, I grew up around a father who played the guitar and built his own drum-kit. He heard me humming at the age of five, and gave me proper guidance. The journey has been a long one. Nothing was overnight. Music should be pursued only for music. Not for money, or fame, or success, but pure, innocent love for music. If you're good, the rest will follow.

Ayesha Vasdev is a sound recordist who archives folk music through her project Sangeetcar

Music is a language—the oldest known to mankind. It is the force that Yoda spoke of, the bhakti that religion talks about, the ishq in Sufi philosophy and the karm the Gita speaks of. It is a cluster of vibrations that transcends all barriers to move what we call the soul.

Altaf Raja is a playback singer and performer

Music is my oxygen. If there was no music, I'd probably not be around.

Hemali Lalaji is civil engineer who loves playing the Casio. Working around her hearing impairment, she keeps it thick with music

I feel lighter when I listen to music. I enjoy listening to old Hindi songs, classical and romantic numbers. A few years ago when I performed for the first time in front of an audience, I sang a Gujarati number—Tu mane bhagwani hi vardan aapi de.

For the hearing impaired, the hearing aid helps in listening to music, but the key to deciphering the notes and the sounds lie in the vibration. And since practise makes perfect, it takes us a few repetitions to grasp songs. Unfortunately, these days, my work doesn't allow me enough free time to practise singing.

Evgeny Bushkov, 49, is a violist. He is also the resident conductor of Symphony Orchestra of India

When I'm asked what is the kind of music you like the most, I say it's the music I'm about to perform. I can also say I try to only play the music which I'm in love with at the moment. Music of different styles move me. First perfecting, and then overcoming the technical level of music, so we can excite and cause the most refined feelings in the hearts of our audience and our own—that is the main test.

Gurpreet Chana is a Canadian tabla and hang artist who plays gurudwara kirtans and has collaborated with the likes of Nelly Furtado

I started playing the tabla at the age of three and continue to do so at 40. Music is a language to connect and communicate to the existence all around us. Everything around us is a vibration... the sound being the source of that vibration. For me, music has been a gateway to explore and engage with my faith, spirituality and Punjabi culture. I trust music to resonate however it needs to for each person.