British-Indian artist launches track as ode to Partition, 1984 massacre

Preeti Kanan Singhania, a British Indian musician popularly known as Bombay the Artist, has released a song titled 'Raaha' based on her grandmother's experience of the 1947 partition and 1984 Riots.

Pic courtesy: Instagram/Bombay the Artist

New Delhi: Preeti Kanan Singhania, a British Indian musician popularly known as Bombay the Artist, has come up with a song titled 'Raaha', which she wrote during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown last year. The song is based on Bombay's conversations with her grandmother who spoke poignantly about the 1947 partition and 1984 Riots that she had to go through as a young woman then.

The new single by this underground alternative hip hop artist speaks of her lost love, betrayals, and the human nature in calamities, which became the bedrock of `Raaha`. Bombay channelized this to curate a song that represents lost love, and calamities like COVID-19 and its effect on people.

Singhania started her journey after being inspired by her life and experience in Mumbai. While she was brought up in a primarily white neighbourhood in England, her music inspiration had always been the likes of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, S D Burman among others. Every aspect of her life there seemed to have an Indian influence, from her designs at fashion school to her music. She finally decided to come to Mumbai and experience the madness and thrill of the city while imbibing its impact on her. There came Bombay the Artist who uses trap beats, hip hop with the underlying Indianness in her to showcase her moods via each song.

While 'Raaha' delves into the pain of the Partition for lovers, mothers, children and fathers, it is also emblematic of the current second wave that has raged through India. However, the song shifts from the feeling of relationships leaving people broken to more hope where people eventually find strength to heal and look out for voices of people to listen out for, thereby keeping them close to heart.

Speaking about launching the song, she said "Raaha is how I dealt with my grief and I want nothing more than my listeners to heal from this as well. These are tough times where people have lost a lot. We need to stay together and be kind to each other. It`s a commonality we share, so let`s not think we are alone."