One day you’re playing on the streets, the next, in the studio of a famous Bollywood music director. While this might seem like the ending of a fairy tale, this story has less to do with magic, and more to do with talent. Santosh Gandharva, a singer from Rangpo, Sikkim, who performs Nepali and Hindi songs on the streets to support his family, found himself making his way to Mumbai on composer Pritam’s request. The street performer was invited by the celebrated composer after the latter came across a video of Santosh’s performance on YouTube. In the video, Santosh is seen performing the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil hit, Channa Mereya, on a sarangi. Since Pritam had no clue about the whereabouts of the singer, he asked his Twitter followers to help him trace Santosh. The composer shared the video and accompanied it with the request, ‘Everyone out there, help me find this guy!’ And Twitter made sure Pritam found the guy.
“I’m not much of a social media person. But I was so moved by the way people reacted to my request. It made me feel that there is a good side to social media too. In fact, it can help us find talented musicians we otherwise wouldn’t have heard off,” says the award-winning composer. Pravesh Chhetri, who runs a travel company in Sikkim, had the same desire in mind when he recorded and uploaded the video. “I’ve been seeing Santosh playing on the streets for more than a year now. But that day, when I heard him play Channa Mereya, I was moved by the music. I felt like recording him and uploading the video because I wanted his talent to be seen,” says Pravesh. Pravesh uploaded the video on his YouTube channel and within a few days, the video garnered over 12 lakh views. “When I saw Pritam’s request, I rushed to meet Santosh and tell him about what had happened,” adds Pravesh.
What occurred next is nothing short of a miracle, for, on seeing Pritam’s request, the chief minister of Sikkim offered to help Santosh get to Mumbai. “Pawan Kumar Chamling, our chief minister arranged flight tickets for my journey to and fro,” reveals Santosh. In Mumbai, Santosh got a chance to interact with Pritam in his studio and play a few songs for him. “It was my first time in Mumbai and it felt great to meet such a renowned artist. Pritamda praised my singing and also offered to mentor me,” says the singer. Pritam reveals that he was particularly fascinated by Santosh’s sarangi, “That sarangi is handcrafted by his grandfather. It was passed on to Santosh’s father and then to him. The tone of that instrument is so beautiful. If I show it to any maker here, they’ll be surprised,” says Pritam.
The music director also wishes to feature Santosh in a few songs after he has received some training. “His talent needs polishing and he is eager to learn more instruments. So, I’m looking for teachers in Siliguri and Jalpaiguri for Santosh. I have also asked him to come to Mumbai again so that I can groom him further,” says Pritam. The music director is so pleased with his discovery that he is determined to use his platform, JAM8, to find and promote more musicians like Santosh. JAM8 is Pritam’s A&R (Artists and Repertoire) music venture that works towards grooming upcoming musicians for the industry. The music director says, “We have so many talented musicians who live in small towns. With the help of social media, we can find them and make them part of the mainstream.” However, what the singer is most happy about is the amount of love Santosh has received from the people of Sikkim. “Santosh, and the people of Sikkim have such pure and warm hearts. I told Santosh, ‘mein bhi Gangtok aaunga’ (I also will visit Gangtok). I’ve got a friend there now,” smiles Pritam.
