A Kannadiga by birth, Dr Ramya Mohan is an adolescent and young people’s psychiatrist, composer and singer. She has two internationally acclaimed albums and a English/Hindi single to her credit. Known for blending two very different worlds of medicine and music together, she composed Kanasallu which was shot in London and will be released in a music video on you Tube this Christmas.
This British- Indian has been living and breathing music. The daughter of trained musician parents; Ramya had exposure to music from a very young age. She says, “My father has this amazing passion for music, so it was a part of my growing up. Carnatic classical is my main solid base. M Balamuralikrishna was my very first inspiration in the world of classical music.” She feels that music is such a universal language, and draws inspiration from everything around her.
A youth exchange programme to Canada which Ramya was a part of made her change her perspective. She explains, “During the exchange programme, I worked in a senior's home and that really opened my eyes to community service. I thought more about getting into medicine. But my creative side was struggling blossom. It has been quite a journey trying to balance both the sides in way that it’s helpful to people, and to me personally.”
The shift from medicine to singing was a gradual process. “Medicine being the demanding profession it is, I was frustrated that I couldn’t sing. Medical cases throughout my training displayed the benefits of including music and art in the healing process. Children with learning disability or autism are really receptive to music,” she adds. When she saw this, she decided to apply the same methods with groups of people with special needs. Her parents realised that medicine was her calling and music was her soul, so they were supportive of her choice to become a musician.
She says her music has bits of innovation, tradition and modernism. Ramya’s music video that is lined up for a debut on YouTube is close to her on a personal and professional level. “For me, this is the bringing together of two beautiful worlds. Because of my extensive work as a psychiatrist, I express all these thoughts and expressions through my music. I like to look at it like a psychiatrist’s take on life, love and emotion,” she adds.
Being a Kannadiga, Ramya ensures that her daughters learn the language. Bengaluru and UK are two very different worlds. She says, “London is my second home and Bengaluru is my first. But living in the city for the past year, and travelling back to London for work, I feel more like a visitor now.” Earlier, the annual trip to Bengaluru was the highlight of the year as she looked forward to relish neer dosa and sambar, now she is happy to be home.
Talking about the Bengaluru music scene and how different it is to the UK music scene, she adds, “It’s very similar in many ways, and very different in other ways. The creativity is fantastic. In terms of organisation, UK is more planned, here it is more spontaneous.” Ramya loves spending time with her family and since she is now in the city, she get to spend more time with her parents. “I am really looking forward to doing more composing, singing and keep her art thriving,” says the lady who wants to also pursue artsy endeavours.
