Deepa Nair Rasiya’s initiation into music began with Carnatic lessons, then she picked up Western Classical music from London, where she lived as a child, grew up loving Hindustani music and finally, after marrying into an Orthodox Sikh family, was piqued by Shabad Kirtans (Sikh devotional music). Her new album Destination features 10 songs of Sufi poets like Baba Bulleh Shah and Hazrat Sultan Bahu.
“After my debut album, Into the Light, in 2006, which had spiritual material from the Hindu tradition, my focus moved towards writings from the Guru Granth Sahib, especially as I was frequently performing Sikh Kirtans with the family. By the end of 2012, I had a selection of nine Shabads, with music fully composed and ready for recording,” Deepa says.
She also had a similar number of Sufi poems to record, the melodies for the “soul-stirring words” of the poets just flowing into her head. “Before I knew it, I had two complete albums composed and I approached K.J. Singh in Mumbai to help produce it. We quickly put together a team of talented musicians in Mumbai and recorded both albums back-to-back: Destination, which released worldwide on July 2, and Saranai (the Sikh Shabad album) which will release at the end of this year,” Deepa reveals.
Deepa’s love for Shabads was triggered by her marriage to Manjeet Singh Rasiya, an acclaimed classical tabla player. At the same time, Deepa discovered the “undeniable beauty of the lyrics and music” within the Sufi traditions of India and Pakistan. The reverence for the Sufi tradition is evident in Destination, which has a very different sound than most mainstream Indian music. “My objective is to do my part to keep raga-based music current and accessible to a wider world audience,” Deepa says. “At the same time, I also want to highlight the powerful spiritual and philosophical thoughts and messages of the mystics of the subcontinent.”
