Meet Aabha Hanjura, Who Quit Her Job to Promote Kashmiri Bol

I want to bring the sound of Kashmir out of the valley and put it on the world map.

I remember meeting Aabha for the first time during a shoot in Bengaluru. We were both working for CNN-IBN back then and Aabha was there because she was handling the client. Now the same Aabha Hanjura who headed a sales division a few years back, is a budding Kashmiri folk singer.

While she was brilliant at her work even then, we had no idea that she was actually preparing herself for a career in folk singing!

Taking that leap, which most of us can’t gather the courage to, she resigned from her position in Network 18 in 2014 and set out on a journey that was filled with challenges.

I remember calling her up and trying to convince her that it's rather silly to leave a secure job if she isn’t joining elsewhere. It’s seemed like sound advice, after all that’s how most of us would react, right?

But I guess that our Kashmiri girl is far from ordinary. Aabha has been performing since 2011 and started her own music band, Sufistication, in 2012. Her latest track ‘Hukus Bukus’ is making quite the waves, with over two lakh views in almost a month.

“Kashmir has a beautiful culture. I want to bring that out in my music. I want to bring the sound of Kashmir out of Kashmir. In fact I want to take it out of India and put it on the world map. That’s my ultimate goal”, says a determined Aabha.

When asked about the kind of challenges she has to face as an artist, she says, “Well, there are good days and there are shit days and you already know that the good days won’t last long whereas the shit days will keep coming. But then your goal keeps you alive and motivated.”

India is a land with many tongues, and artists like Aabha Hanjura make us realise the linguistic diversity of India and the beauty of every BOL.

(We all love to express ourselves, but how often do we do it in our mother tongue?  Here's your chance! This Independence Day, khul ke bol with BOL – Love your Bhasha. Sing, write, perform, spew poetry – whatever you like – in your mother tongue. Send us your BOL at [e-mail] or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)