Ricky Kej: Want next generation to have everything

Days ago threetime Grammy winner Ricky Kej took to social media to make ldquoone of the biggest announcements of my liferdquo At the helm of matters at an upcoming performing arts division of Bengalurursquos Chanakya University Kej intends to use a ldquoholistic interdisciplinary approachrdquo to nurture a new generation of artistes Education in music theatre and filmmaking will be employed for the making of wellrounded artistes in a bid to prepare them for ldquoreal worldrdquo projects he saysEdited excerpts of the interviewHow did this association materialiseIrsquove dreamt of nurturing and making an institute with great infrastructure and creating artistes who can be successful in todayrsquos world A lot of institutes throughout the world are unable to make students ready to go out into the world and become successful I wanted to ensure that the artistes are not only skilled at their art but also knowledgeable about the ways in which they can apply it They shouldnrsquot be delusional Skilled artistes believe that because they are skilled people will listen to them This is not true You need to know how to present yourself and make your art palatable Marketing oneself is important too When it comes to entrepreneurship you are trying to sell yourself and if you canrsquot showcase that your art is good you canrsquot convince people to consume itSo while I cherished this dream Chanakya University got in touch with me They wanted to build a strong performing arts school We had lots of discussions in the past year and I also travelled to other universities and learned a lot I tried to understand what the alumni believed was lacking in their curriculum so that I could incorporate it here There will be three streams mdash music theatre and filmmaking I was given the freedom to create it from scratch What will make this effort unique is the strong interdisciplinary approach that will be there between the streams Whatever you choose to learn you will still be taught certain aspects of the other streams The pandemic taught us that you need to know multiple things to survive Filmmakers need to have some knowledge of scoring and dancers need to know a lot about camera angles and music So the focus will be on having an interdisciplinary approachFollowing your multiple wins music aficionados would want to know what change would you introduce to the way music is taughtThe streamlining of music within a university is missing Students will be taught how to create a bridge between Indian classical western classical and contemporary music The idea is to teach them to have a holistic view of music creation There will be a strong emphasis on technology which is also missing Technology is used in every art form mdash whether in the form of larger or smaller setups Also infrastructure matters Irsquoll take an example from my life I knew from grade two that I wanted to make music for the rest of my life There were no two ways about itConvincing my parents was tough though My dad is a thirdgeneration doctor and always thought music would be my hobby something Irsquod do as an lsquoevening thingrsquo after my job After a lot of convincing he said I could do as I desired after I finished a degree in dental surgery So I had to go through those five years of training even though I never took it ahead If I could take my parents to a university that had good buildings teachers and faculty members and one that had tieups with other universities perhaps they would have let me take it up I would then have had a degree in music instead of dental surgery Not only would I have not wasted my time but I would have also not wasted another aspiring dentistrsquos seatOver the several years that wersquove communicated with you during which yoursquove also won several Grammy Awards yoursquove moved from discussing musicmaking for the environment to business How do you reflect on these past few years where perhaps you may have felt a sense of validationAbsolutely When it comes to my career I havenrsquot followed a traditional path Being a musician is not like a regular job in which you get a salary you have funds set aside as your EPF and it becomes easier to manage your taxes Musicians face difficulty when it comes to finances A skilled musician needs to make hisher career stable to make music with a clear mind Financial management and investment is something we will also cover I in fact could well be a student there because I still donrsquot know how to investAll of my money is in the bank and I am not able to beat inflation So we will teach them how to charge what industry rates are and how to manage their money I am a musician and thatrsquos all I do My talk of business stems from my lack of acumen as a businessman Irsquove understood the needs of musicians because of all the things that I lacked I want the next generation to have it all We will have a strong sustainability division I believe artistes have a lot to contribute to society They must create music for good and lead by example because they have an audience Sustainability and social impact will be the crux of our coursesAlso ReadIndia at the Grammys