Presenting to you the 25th edition of Friendly Fridays.
We have the celebrated sufi singer Ankit Batra with us today. He has performed all around the globe and is an active singer and volunteer for the world’s largest volunteer driven NGO “The Art Of Living”. This NGO is headed by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravishankar Ji who is an idol for many.
Ankit has performed in front of legendary artists such as the great Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Sahab. He formed a band named the Soulful Raga. Know more about him from our interaction below.
Team ED: How would you describe yourself in three words?
Ankit Batra: Enterprising, Creative and Contented
Team ED: When did your journey with Art of Living start?
Ankit Batra: 3rd June 2008. It was second year college. Saw a newspaper ad “Learn the Art of Living”.
Team ED: What or who is your biggest inspiration?
Ankit Batra: Well, I have 3 and not one inspiration-
- H.H Sri Sri Ravishankar ji
- My Dad
- Mr. A R Rahman
Team ED: If you could perform live with any musician, who would you choose?
Ankit Batra: It’s my dream to perform with Mr. A R Rahman.
Team ED: What’s your take on commercial music?
Ankit Batra: Well, commerce and music haven’t got really well in the past. But this is an era where talent is being paid off well. So it’s good for the artists. And yes! every form of music has certain masterpieces and some useless stuff.
Team ED: Tell us something about your band Soulful Raga
Ankit Batra: The image says it all!
Team ED: Share with us any embarrassing moment that happened while you were performing.
Ankit Batra: I don’t remember any such thing while performing….but with this profession yes there is an embarrassing thing…when people ask:
People: What do you do??
Me: I am a Singer.
People: No I mean what do you do for a living??
Me: :-O
Can’t really answer that. People don’t take it like a serious full time profession.
Team ED: Haha, I agree with this. If you could pick an ideal location for your performance, which place would that be?
Ankit Batra: I really loved two locations where I have already performed.
1. Jag Mandir, Udaipur.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu2GOdxPQOo
2. Dubai – Jumeirah Beach in front of Burj Al Arab.
Team ED: If not a musician, what would you be doing?
Ankit Batra: I don’t know…would be certainly doing something with music. Or maybe an artist manager promoting other artists.
Team ED: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done till now?
Ankit Batra: Been on an outstation trip with Gurudev H.H. Sri Sri Ravishankar Ji for 5 days. Being with him, you will get the craziest and most memorable experiences on earth.
Team ED: Name a song that describes your current state of mind.
Ankit Batra: Jeena Jeena from Movie Badlapur.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8cya-2SttM
That’s all from this week’s Friendly Fridays peeps. Watch out this space for another fun chat with a talented person!
Team ED :-)
