Kavita Seth: For better or verse

Main Kavita Hoon — Live in Concert is a passion project for singer Kavita Seth. It’s a series of concert albums in which she composes and performs on works of legendary poets from the bygone era and present days — Mirza Ghalib, Rumi, Amrita Pritam, Jagdish Prakash, Wasim Barelvi and many more. The Tumhi Ho Bandhu (Cocktail) singer tells us, “I plan to rehearse well and record them as audio as well as video albums. We will edit it all and put it up on platforms such as YouTube. If ghazals and nazms are recorded in a studio with canned applause, it sounds fake. Nothing can compete with the natural feel of the audiences’ reactions.” Here, Kavita also talks about vocalising some of the greatest balladeers’ words, what Sufism means to her and more. 

Which poet’s work did you find the most challenging to create music for?

Amrita Pritam’s poems took me seven to eight months to compose melodies for. She used to write in free verse and even though it had a rhythm, it didn’t have metre. But, the project was outstanding. I was completely into it. I lived her works during this time.

From all the Sufi poets, whom have you been influenced by the most?

I have made Rumi a part of my lifestyle — the way he has spoken about love, no one in the world has or can. I sing Baba Bulle Shah and Sant Kabirdas’ words a lot. For me, it’s not just about singing but making it a part of my life. You don’t need to say things like, ‘I’m a Sufi singer’ because it reflects through your personality and actions. Abida Parveen and Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan never had to spell it out. Things that Meerabai, Swami Vivekanand and Kabirdas said are alive, important and relevant even today. That’s because the truth always prevails. I believe in doing good deeds because you don’t know what you will be reborn as. So, I read and listen to good things. It can be anything and not just Sufi. I truly believe that melodies that connect with you are real music — classical, Sufi, rap or rock. It’s all about saying what you feel.

You started your musical journey at a local dargah in Bareilly. When you go to your hometown, do you still sing there?

Whenever I visit my parents, I make it a point to go to that dargah and meet the pir there. I don’t perform there as such but if he asks me to sing something for him, then I do. Whatever I’m singing is thanks to these elders. Otherwise, who am I?