With a voice just as sweet as her name, Chaitra Ravi Shankar is an upcoming voice in Australia. Basically from Bangalore, Chaitra did her basic school from Bangalore and later moved to New Zealand in 1999. She did her Bachelors in Information Technology from New Zealand but along with that continued learning music.
It was her love for music that kept her intact with singing and persuaded her to launch her own Bhajan album in 2008 under the name ‘Ram Rattan Dhan Paiyo’.
She won the musical competition, “Voice of New Zealand” in 2000, which was judged by Anoop Jalota, a very prominent Bhajan singer from India.
Even she made to the top 50 contestants of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Besides working in IT industry she is passionate for music. “I think God has blessed me with everything by allowing me to pursue my passion along with my profession. Singing is not an avocation for me. I can sing anytime and anywhere. I live with music. I sing when I am driving , I sing when I am doing some work , I sing during my leisure time, so music is my life.I have been gifted with it and I have tried to nurture it”
“Probably I have been singing right from my cradle. I have a background in music. Music is something which is in my blood. My Grandmother was a classical singer, so I grew up with music. I enjoyed singing songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar. My aunt is an AIR artist. She sings mainly in Kannada and I would say that she is also a big inspiration for me”, she says.
“But it was my parents who motivated me to learn music. I am glad doing something which I love to do”, says Chaitra.
“‘My first guru was my ‘grandmother’ who taught me classical music. It was her effort that at the age of 3, I sang a devotional song in the song competition held in Lord Ganesha Temple, Bangalore which was appreciated by everyone. Though I couldn’t win any prize, but it was great motivation for me”, she adds.
After shifting to New Zealand, Chaitra continued learning music and even participated in various competitions. After marriage, she shifted to Sydney where she participated in Australian –Indian Idol and was adjudged as Runner Up in the competition. She also won the popular choice award and that gave her a kick start in Australia.
She believes that a complete singer should have a good voice and needs to be highly confident to perform at shows.
Chaitra got an opportunity to perform with Udit Narayan last month, during his trip to Australia. She has also performed with BR Chaaya, Manjula Gururaj and others.
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