Songstress resurrects her music career
AS A child, Nerasha Singh would often be roused from her sleep by the LPs her parents played on their record player.
These are memories she treasures.
From those early days, the 61-year-old Pinetown resident developed a passion for music which has become the food for her soul.
“I grew up in Mayville in the early 1960s and there was not much to do entertainment-wise. We had a radio, but there was one programme which catered for Indians, and it was broadcast for an hour on Sundays,” she says.
To keep entertained, her dad, DM Maharaj, a chemical representative, and mother, Sonpathy, a housewife, bought a record player and LPs of their favourite Hindi songs.
“While the music was at full blast I would dance around the house and, in the process, learnt the words to the songs with ease. In primary and high school I was the first one to volunteer to perform, and as the years passed, I performed with the band Saraswathie Shenaaz in various contests.”
Singh drew inspiration from the legends, including Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi.
The grandmother of two went on to sing at shows, weddings and birthday parties, but when she married her husband, Sanjith Singh, she put her music career aside to focus on her family.
“I moved to Isipingo and we started a panel-beating business,” said the mother of three.
“I returned to music for a short time in the 90s, and then again after my husband’s death in 2004.”
In 1993, she performed alongside Mauritian singer Ramesh Santhokee during a fund-raising show for the Aryan Benevolent Home in Chatsworth.
“I attended his voice culture classes and, when he heard me sing, he insisted I join him and other artists on stage. I was nervous, as I had not performed in public for years, but I agreed.”
She thereafter joined a bhajan group.
“When my husband died, I did not feel like returning to the stage, but my family encouraged me to render bhajans.”
While at a religious gathering, show promoter Rocco Thakurdin heard her sing and insisted she showcase her talent at one of his shows – and from there her career took off once again.
She sang for her guru, Srimad Jagadguru Swami Sudarshan Acharyaji Maharaj, at his ashram in Delhi, India, in 2006 and 2012.
For Singh, singing helped her stay calm and it gave her a sense of peace.
She will perform at the Rajput Hall in Chatsworth on May 5. For enquiries, call Rocco Thakurdin on 084 555 8228.