Written by Prachi Shah on 29 May 2026
Learning music, especially Indian classical music, is an intimate dialogue between you and the swaras. In the beginning, it can feel like an impossible journey. The notes slip away, your voice wavers, and no matter how much you try, the sur refuses to settle. You listen to recordings of maestros and wonder…will I ever reach where they are?
But here’s the secret every great musician learns: you don’t find the swaras; the swaras find you.
When you start, every note feels like a battle. Your mind tries to control, to perfect, to “get it right.” But sometimes, music does not respond to force. It responds to surrender. The struggle of a beginner is not a mistake; it’s the training ground where your sense of self learns to step aside and your inner ear begins to awaken.
Kishori Amonkar, one of India’s most profound classical vocalists, once said:
“Swar zinda hai. Jab main Kishori ban ke gaati hoon to nahi aate. Par jab main apne aap ko bhul ke gaati hoon to peeche mud ke dekhte hain.”
“The swaras are alive. When I sing as Kishori, they don’t come. But when I forget myself and sing, they turn around and look at me.”
That is the heart of the journey. When you forget yourself, when you stop trying to control, the music begins to flow through you. The swaras come alive!
Music, at its deepest, is meditation. When you close your eyes and sing, the line between singer and song starts to blur. The song is, when you are not. The tanpura’s drone becomes your heartbeat, your breath merges with the rhythm, and you find yourself disappearing into the sound. This is not a performance… it is presence.
At that moment, the notes don't come with effort. They arise naturally…like a wave returning to the ocean. The mind quiets. The self dissolves. Only the swara remains.
Think of this journey like climbing Mount Everest. If you think you are bigger than the mountain, you will fall. If you think you are not good enough, you will invariably fall.
But if you simply become a witness to the climb, step by step, breath by breath, the mountain allows you to reach its peak.
Music is the same. When you approach the raga with humility, not as something to conquer but as something to surrender to, the swaras will guide you. They will show you the way…sometimes gently, sometimes through struggle, but always truthfully.
So, to every beginner wrestling with their voice, to every student who feels lost in the labyrinth of notes, breathe. Let go of the need to be perfect. Let go of the fear of being wrong. The path of music is not linear; it is cyclical, deepening with each return.
Trust the process. Trust the silence between notes. Trust that the swaras are alive… waiting for the moment when you stop trying to capture them and simply become one with them.
Because when that happens, you don’t hit the Sa. The Sa hits you.
And that’s when you realize…the swaras will find the way.
Prachi Shah,
Curriculum Coordinator, Shankar Mahadevan Academy
Inspired by young kids and wise minds alike.
Vocalist, Writer, Coffee Connoisseur.
