IN part one of Meghna Mahima Goundar’s musical journey to success, we found out the source of her inspiration and love for the creative arts.
Learning the art of music around the tender age of four from observing her siblings learn to play a variety of instruments, and more memorably performing at their family concert, became one of the reasons for acquiring such a passion that has never left her side.
In the second part of the series, we delve more into the success of Ms Goundar and the release of her two official albums.
“The first album of mine that was released to the public was Hanuman Chalisa – a divine journey in 2018,” Ms Goundar said.
“The Hanuman Chalisa is a devotional hymn of 40 verses written by Tulsidas, and it has been recited by devotees all over the world for centuries.”
The young musician added that she is blessed to have sung such a spiritual song loved by thousands of people locally and internationally.
“People have given so many melodies to the chant, and I am very blessed to have had a beautiful version composed and arranged to be voiced by me.
“There are so many Hanuman Bhakts (devotees) in Fiji who have created small communities that comes together to pray and sing and do voluntary work for everyone around them.
“Similarly, I have been part of the Hanuman Chalisa Parivar and I have sung bhajans in temples on auspicious occasions with fellow members of the group.
“In 2018, we wanted to make a small initiative where we would record the Hanuman Chalisa and release it to the public on the auspicious day of Hanuman Jayanti.
“So with that in mind, we got in contact with some of the most talented and welcoming people in India who were willing to arrange a composition that people in Fiji could sing along to.”
She expressed her desire to make music that brings people together in harmony and peace.
“The music we typically make has a motive. My first album was a devotional one and we had every intention of bringing people together and to encourage the youths to strengthen their connection with their roots and rich culture.”
Her second album titled Kya ho gaya comprises five tracks and composed by Navin, Manish and Pradeep Pandit under the label T-series.
One should note that T-series is one of India’s largest music labels that has accumulated more than 260 million YouTube subscribers and 246 billion total views as of February 19 of this year.
The five songs on the album have meaningful lyrics, beautiful melody and a peppy beat, keeping in mind that majority of the listeners are young adults who are able to resonate with the tracks.
“My second album had the theme Love. Through the album, we wanted to show five different colours of love and how one emotion can be expressed in so many ways.”
“It’s a romantic song about a girl who falls in love for the first time.
“I think the beauty of all art form is that it has the power to convey messages that are beyond just words.
“Therefore, I would take every chance to make music that ignites a thought and has a motive.”
One of the most memorable places to perform, according to her, was at the Grand Pacific Hotel where she launched her second album with a live show.
“Performing at GPH made feel very special and that was the most confident that I had ever been on stage. It was most definitely because all my family and friends were present showing me love and support.
“As well as the great musicians from India, whom I had the privilege to have accompanied, for my next performance, it does not matter where it would be as long as it continues to be among people whose immense support has helped me become who I am.”
Ms Goundar expressed that the best advice ever given to her was “once you accept that you can never know enough, you will realise that you are always learning even involuntarily”.
“There is no limit to the knowledge that is present around us, so to be able to explore and know what to keep and let go is something that not just helps us as students in our respective fields to help us navigate through life.”
