TRUST ME I KNOW WHAT I'm DOING

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So after beginning with church music in Europe, and then gaining popularity in the US in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, a capella music has a unique kind of charm. Since you don’t need instruments, you just need humans. It’s an instant community builder, as you need to gather at least a few voices to make some simple harmonies. And best of all, since there’s no equipment involved, it’s basically free. So, you know - free, humans, and gathering - the basic ingredients of a successful college party , and so it’s no surprise that the a capella art form is immensely popular on college campuses. It’s certainly been buoyed in recent years by lots of pop music offerings and movies like Pitch Perfect, but has some fairly broad appeal among the generations. That’s why it was pretty cool to talk to members of PENN MASALA, the world’s first and premiere South Asian A Capella group. Since forming in Philadelphia in 1996, on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Masala has been creating a cappella music with a Desi-Western fusion, crossing cultural and musical boundaries, and setting new ones for many others. From original compositions to Hindi-English mashups to blending pop, folk, R and B, jazz, rock and of course, so many South Asian influences, they’ve performed and toured in the US, the UK, and in India. Over the years, they have been featured in the Indian International Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, in the Hollywood feature film and soundtrack for Pitch Perfect 2, performed at White House for Divali and this past summer at the State Dinner hosted by President Biden for Prime Minister Modi. Over the years, they’ve released 12 studio albums, and their latest is called Midnight Oil. I caught up with them recently before school started with the group’s president Raghu Raman, the music director, Prateek Adurty, and the business manager, Gaurish Gaur - all singers in the group and all full time students. We chatted about everything from the demands of student life, to the camaraderie of past and current members, to staying relevant in a music and college world filled with so many choices. But we started by chatting about their recent trip aptly called “Home Coming” this past May to perform in India.

Thanks so much PENN MASALA, and a quick shout out to my beloved NYMC Arrhythmias. On a far more serious note, It goes without saying, but every human life has value and Jaahnavi Kandula’s death demands justice, accountability, and a rigorous examination of why such erosion of professional culture exists in the people charged with enforcing the law and protecting our communities. Till next time, I’m Abhay Dandekar.