Women’s Day Special: Female musicians on their charity endeavours

They say, music is a healer. And what can be better than music becoming the harbinger of relief for people in need? On International Women’s Day today, we reach out to three female musicians from Bollywood as well as Indian classical space, who are closely associated with noble causes. They tell us how their art has become a bearer of smile and relief for many. Read on:

Kavita Seth, singer

Causes: Works towards education of underprivileged children; supported artistes financially during the pandemic,

“I believe that this life is a gift of God and it isn’t given to us to only fulfil our dreams and keep running towards material achievements. I strongly believe in sharing what I have. I have been associated with numerous causes for a long time. Even the concerts I did every year in the memory of Mr Seth (her late husband and guru), was my way to give back to society. I chose supporting girl child education on most opportunities. It means a lot to me. I dream of a country where every child receives education. Also, during the pandemic, I also began doing my bit for the musicians in our country. Our industry was severely impacted and supporting the artistes financially is what I put my energy into.”

Anuradha Pal, tabla player

Causes: Women’s empowerment; contribution towards army relief

The cause of female empowerment and inclusion has always been really close to my heart. Catalysed by my own struggles storming the male bastion of Indian rhythm, that too coming from a non-musician family, I founded India’s all-girls Hindustani-Carnatic band, Anuradha Pal’s Stree Shakti, which has been enthralling audiences for over 26 years.

Since July 2020, I have provided monetary help to 350 musicians and given monthly ration, medical help and blankets to 270 women across 20 states of India under my Stree Shakti URJA campaign. Currently, I am also working on empowering women in the villages with means of livelihood, to make them aatma nirbhar (self-dependent). My husband, Shyam Sharma, and I regularly contribute to the army relief fund.

Palak Muchhal, singer

Causes: Raises money for child and adult heart and kidney patients; also helped the Indian army and earthquake victims in the past

“My mission of saving little hearts is the mission of my life. Every time I sing, a life is saved and what can be a bigger blessing than this. Through my concerts so far, I have managed to save 2,305 lives and there are still 436 kids in my list waiting to get operated. As I kid I would wonder, ‘Why do some kids smile and some cry? Why can’t everybody be happy? I knew I had a special blessing in the form of my talent of singing through which I could make a difference. I realised I could put the smile back on and I started my mission of helping others. I raised money for our Army jawans in Kargil at the age of six. After that, I began performing for underprivileged kids suffering from heart diseases at the age of seven along with my brother, Palash (Muchhal, composer-singer).”