Gulzar, Parsoon Joshi, Aadesh Shrivastav at Rewa Rathod launch

India, January 2013- The very essence of Indian music lies in its legacy of passing on the techniques of music from one generation to another. The flawless magic that music emanates is immaculate and incomparable. To take a plunge in the deep-sea of countless pioneers of next generation musicians and spread this magic to the world, we have a new addition – the confident and charming Reewa Rathod.

The dynamic and talented teenager, who made her debut in the music industry on her 21st birthday happens to be the beautiful daughter of the much acclaimed playback singer duo Sunali & Roopkumar Rathod. This vocalist, pianist and music composer who has been pursuing her passion since the age of four staged a three hour performance at Amphitheatre, Bandra Fort today. Having accomplished eight grades in piano with distinction from Royal Associated Board Of London under the expert guidance of Shanti Sheldon, she was the first teenage Indian who showcased multiple musical facets on a single stage in the form of a live performance comprising of Eastern and Western classic compositions.

Industry stalwarts like Bala Mani Aiyyer and Prasanna Warrier who have trained her in Carnatic music while Pandit Rajan and Sajan Mishra who have trained her in Hindu classical singing swear by the young prodigy who gave her first public recital of the famous Meera Bhajan Paayoji Maine to a packed to capacity audience in Tejpal Auditorium, Mumbai in honour of her late grandfather. Going by her artistic family lineage, a trendsetter in the making and another legendary addition to the family of prominent musicians. Her grandfather Pandit Chaturbhuj Rathod was a renowned “dhupad dhamar” vocalist of the ” Aditya Gharana of Jamnagar” while her uncle, Sharavan Rathod is a well-known music director. Young music director duo, Sanjeev – Darshan are her first cousins while her aunt, late Rupali Dalal was a classical vocalist. She is also the great granddaughter of the late Champabai Dhiraji Rathod,who was a trained singer of classical melodies in ancient Raagas and Ghazal singing in the late 19th century. Reewas maternal grandmother, the late Leena Sheth was a classical dancer and a painter. With such a strong musical and artistic background, it was natural for her to come to the fore and make her presence felt. The generally reserved Reewa is a passionate animal lover and does wonders in kitchen with her exceptional culinary skills. She is a national level award winning horse-rider while she secretly wishes to build a music school for the underprivileged section of society.

Speaking on the occasion, the enterprising and responsible debutant states, “I feel that Bollywood has to come at some point of your life. But it is not an integral part of my life. My aim is to reach the international platform and make my presence felt globally. I want to be someone like Norah Jones or Anoushka Shankar. But my personal style is soul music. I’ve been writing poems and creating my own compositions in English, Hindi and sometimes Tamil since a very young age. I want to create my own sound. I wouldn’t deny the fact that being born in a musical family has had its positives. But I feel that until or unless you put in your hard work, you just can’t survive just on a base built by your parents.”

Even with maestros to teach her the tricks of the trade, the restless soul in Reewa does not allow her to reproduce the music lessons as taught by her masters. With sonorous timbre in her voice, the versatile and sensitive artist is all set and poised to take her own flight of fantasy into the world of music and become the heart-throb of the masses as well as the classes. Here’s wishing her all the best.