MUSIC FOR THE SOUL
POONAM SHALU SURI
Operations Manager/ Pop Artist
Dubai bred Indian expat Poonam Shalu Suri started working as a Customer Service Agent at the tender age of 19. After climbing the corporate ladder for 21 years, today she is the Operations Manager of a multinational company.
‘But even as a teen I used to love singing but did not have the opportunity to take formal music lessons,’ she says.
It was only about five years ago that she woudl get a chance to explore the musical side of herself. ‘In 2017, a friend noticed my love for singing, and one thing led to another and ‘boom’ an artist was born,’ says Poonam.
Stepping into the music world with one of Bollywood’s most prestigious music labels called T-Series, Poonam’s song Aashiyana garnered some 100k views in less than 24 hours. Since then, she has sone 15 music videos and judged many reality shows in popular Hindi channels like Zee TV and Zee Cinema. She is also the first female singer in the UAE to be associated with T-Series.
‘When you watch a music video you do not realise the work involved in it. Once, during the shoot of a song I had earrings on for a certain part and later I forgot to wear them. After the entire shoot got over, we realized this and had to shoot that whole segment again.’
Despite juggling multiple tasks at work as a manager, administrator, customer service person and project manager, she has ensured that her passion for music in no way affects her work. Proud to have earned awards for her contribution at the workplace, she has also been recognised and awarded by Dubai Customs.
On the musical front, she went on to win the Women’s Achiever Awards 2019 for Best Singer in the UAE and the SHE Awards in 2020.
How does she balance two very demanding jobs?
‘It’s all about positive attitude. There is nothing impossible if you put your mind to it’ she says, ‘Singing makes me happy and I do it during weekends and on my days off. I always plan ahead and give myself a buffer to schedule myself for recordings, shoots and post production work.’
Poonam admits to receiving mixed responses to her music. ‘I just feel it’s another person’s way of looking at things and I respect that. You just have to carefully filter what needs to be kept and what needs to be ignored,’ she says.
Currently she is working on a project in memory of her late mother Asha Suri who succumbed to Covid this March. Devastated by her death, Poonam found solace in putting her loneliness and angst into words. ‘My parents were living with me in Dubai. My mother was always my biggest supporter in any achievement big or small. This song will be very special to my heart as I have written the lyrics myself,’ she says.
‘However old or mature you think you are; it never prepares you for the loss of your mother. This song, called Meri MAA (my mother) is a dedication to all the beautiful angel mothers who have left us and I am sure it will be cherished by many hearts. It will be a voice of many children who lost their mothers and haven’t found closure.’ she says.
For more information visit her You Tube channels Alaap Makers and Shalu Suri Official
It’s all about positive attitude. There is nothing impossible if you put your mind to it’ she says, ‘Singing makes me happy and I do it in bits during weekends and on my days off,’ says Poonam