
Interviewee: Pritee Varsani
Interviewer: Lata Desai / Rolf Killius
Date: 28/02/2025
Address: 6 Eastlake Road, SE5 9QL
SUMMARY
Pritee Varsani, a Gujarati folk singer in the UK, discusses her heritage and cultural journey.
Born in North West London to parents from Kenya and Gujarat, she recounts her family’s
migration to the UK in the 1970s and the challenges they faced. Pritee’s interest in Gujarati
music led her to travel to India, where she immersed herself in the culture and language. She
emphasizes the importance of preserving Gujarati traditions while adapting them to modern
contexts. Pritee also highlights her efforts to engage the younger generation through
mentorship and innovative approaches to Gujarati music, blending traditional roots with
contemporary styles.
OUTLINE
Journey of Pritee Varsani: Background and Early Life
Pritee Varsani introduces herself as a Gujarati folk singer in the UK, born and raised
in North West London.
Her father was born in Mombasa, Kenya, and her mother in Guts, Gujarat, and they
moved to the UK in the 1970s.
Pritee’s parents faced challenges adapting to life in the UK, including racism and the
lack of a community.
Growing up, Pritee spoke a mix of Gujarati, Swahili, and English, which she initially
thought was standard Gujarati.
Cultural Adaptation and Parental Struggles
Pritee’s father shared stories of his life in Kenya, including his mischievous childhood
and selling ice cream.
The family faced racism in the UK, but they adapted and held onto their language and
culture.
Pritee’s father was a mischievous person, often climbing trees and hassling teachers in
Africa.
The family’s struggle to adapt to a new culture and lifestyle in the UK is highlighted.
Personal Experiences with Racism and Cultural Identity
Pritee did not personally experience racism as she was born in the 1980s, but her
father and sister faced it.
Lata Desai asks about Pritee’s desire to understand her roots, leading to a discussion
about her travels to India.
Pritee felt a burning desire to understand her culture and language, leading her to
travel to different parts of Gujarat.
She stayed with her music teacher and connected with local villages to learn more
about her culture and language.
Connection with Roots and Cultural Immersion
Pritee initially was treated as a foreigner in Gujarat but eventually was accepted and
lived like the locals.
She chose to live in villages and experience their lifestyle to understand her roots
better.
Pritee’s connection with her roots deepened as she lived and worked with the local
community.
She felt a strong connection to her culture and language, which she had to learn from
scratch.
East African Roots and Cultural Evolution
Pritee has travelled to Kenya many times and has seen the evolution of the language
and culture there.
She feels a strong connection to Swahili, which she can understand and connect with
easily.
The culture in Kenya has evolved, with many people now being successful
businessmen and living a different lifestyle.
Pritee felt a strong connection with the local communities in Kenya, especially the
Maasai tribe.
Relationships and Community Dynamics in East Africa
Pritee discusses the relationship between the Asian and black communities in East
Africa.
She feels that the black community in Kenya has not been able to stand on their own
and has relied on the Asian community.
There have been issues of crime and job discrimination, leading to resentment among
the black community.
Pritee emphasizes the need for the black community to be given more opportunities to
stand on their own.
Impact of Migration on Cultural Identity
Pritee reflects on how her upbringing in the UK has shaped her perspective on cultural
identity.
She contrasts her experiences in Kenya with those of her family, who faced more
challenges and crime.
The evolution of opportunities in Kenya has made it safer and more prosperous for the
local community.
Pritee feels that providing more work opportunities can help reduce crime and
improve community relations.
Passion for Gujarati Culture and Music
Pritee’s journey into Gujarati music was influenced by her desire to understand her
roots.
She initially wanted to pursue Bollywood music but was encouraged to focus on
Gujarati music.
Pritee’s music teacher, Lalita Ben Gura, helped her learn the language and culture
from scratch.
She experienced a transformative moment during the Shivratri Mela, which deepened
her connection to Gujarati culture.
Challenges and Successes in Promoting Gujarati Culture
Pritee faced challenges in promoting traditional Gujarati music, which was often
overshadowed by Bollywood.
She organized her own Navratri events to showcase traditional Gujarati music and
culture.
Despite initial resistance, her events gained popularity and attracted a younger
audience.
Pritee’s efforts to make Gujarati music cool and relevant to the younger generation are
highlighted.
Future Plans and Mentorship for the Next Generation
Pritee and her team are working on mentorship programs to engage the younger
generation in Gujarati culture.
They aim to provide a platform for kids to learn and perform traditional Gujarati
music and dance.
Pritee’s niece is being trained in traditional Gujarati songs and is performing with her.
The goal is to create a space where the next generation can feel proud of their culture
and heritage.
Balancing Tradition and Modernity in Gujarati Music
Pritee discusses the importance of adapting traditional Gujarati music to appeal to a
younger audience.
She has created British Gujarati songs that blend traditional themes with modern
styles like Afro beats.
Pritee’s efforts to make Gujarati music more accessible and relevant to the younger
generation are ongoing.
She believes that by combining traditional and modern elements, Gujarati culture can
be kept alive and vibrant.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Pritee Varsani 00:00
So hi, I’m Pritee Varsani. I’m a Gujarati folk singer in the UK, and I’m born and raised in
North West London. My dad was born in Mombasa in Kenya, and my mum was born in
Kutch, Gujarat. And after my dad was born in Mombasa, he travelled to Kutch, and they
came to the UK in the 70s, and, yeah, they travelled with my grandparents and all his brothers
and sisters. They all travelled together, and they made a life in the UK. So as far as I
remember, when my dad used to actually tell me that they used to travel quite a lot by boat.
So them going from Kenya to India, they actually travelled by boat. And they had a bit of a
struggle in in Kutch, and when they decided to come to the UK to make a life for themselves,
again, being in the UK, being the first generation in the UK, was very difficult for them to fit
in, because they didn’t have a community here be you know, where being in India, where
you’ve got your own people, and then coming to the coming to the UK, and facing racism,
facing a lot of different things as well, and starting a complete different life, it was very
different for them. However, it took a bit of a toll in their lives, but they adapted from what I
remember is when they came to the UK and trying to, of course, hold on to the language,
hold on to the culture. They tried to pass that on to us growing up. And I just remember
growing up using, you know, speaking the language as well, where it was mixed with Swahili
and Gujarati. And me growing up here with my of course, siblings as well, we actually
thought that that was a normal Gujarati and speaking that language to our grandparents and
our relatives as well. We actually grew up feeling that that is actually Gujarati, and it was
only up until I did my own travels and went to India and understood that the language I’m
speaking is completely different. And knowing that, okay, we’ve just adapted some, you
know, adopted some words from Swahili, and the, of course, the Kutchi Gujarati as well. So
it felt like we had to learn a complete different I had to learn a complete different language,
which was a struggle on that side, but it was a fun process. Going back to the parents’
struggle, it was, I remember my dad talking about him going to India, of course, travelling by
boat, but going to Kutch and making a life for himself, because it was a complete different
lifestyle for him, as well going into a different country, as well being an ice cream boy,, you
know, travelling around, selling ice cream. And I remember him talking about that. He was
also a very mischievous person, you know, because growing up in Africa as well, they used
to do all these things of climbing up trees, and, you know, doing all these silly things. And I
remember him telling me that, you know, we used to climb up trees, and we used to, you
know, hassle the teachers and so on. But I guess they’ve all had, you know, some kind of
stories to tell. But as mentioned before, when they came to the UK, it was, it was a struggle
for them again, coming back down to the racism that they faced here in the UK, and just
being able to adapt to a complete new culture and a new lifestyle, and being around friends
and family who have also or were going through exactly the same thing, because it’s not just
that my family went through this whole migration period. They were also they were in a
community where others were also going through the same thing as well.
Lata Desai 04:32
What about yourself? You you grew up in Kensal Rise and did you whilst you were growing
up, did you feel racism in Britain,
Pritee Varsani 04:42
I personally myself, didn’t feel racism, because I felt like that moment had passed during
when my sister my brother were born. I was born in the 80s. So for me, it was a lot more
diluted at that, by that time but yes, my dad had faced the racism with, you know, the
skinheads, for example, and so did my sister, but they had travelled on and it didn’t. I didn’t.
I’ve never been exposed to racism. On that front
Lata Desai 05:21
I want to ask you, just want to dissect a little bit about …you said you go to India,
obviously, to meet friends, a family and but was there a burning desire in yourself to
understand your roots and what what India is all about?
Pritee Varsani 05:40
So for me, when I wanted to tap into the Gujarati music scene, for me, it was like I need to
first understand my culture and my language and my people, because I can’t go into
something where I don’t where I’m completely clueless. So that’s when I decided that I want
to, if I go, I want to go to a space where I’m able to dig deeper into my roots. So first of
course, I went to Kutch. I wasn’t getting my answers from Kutch, because it felt like
everyone had moved on. So if I wanted to go back into where we have started, it felt like
people had all forgotten. So then I went into a different part of Gujarat, and I stayed with my
music teacher, and through her and connecting with the villages around surrounding areas, I
got to understand, you know, my language, my culture, my people, and going even deeper
into just learning and understanding the spiritual leaders of Gujarat and why they said what
they said, why they did what they did, it made me feel more interested to learn more and
more about our culture, because being born and brought up In the UK was, first of all, one –
the language. It wasn’t something that was, it wasn’t my first language to be speaking, like, in
terms of, yes, I was speaking Gujarati, you know, with my grandparents and my, you know,
my my relatives. But it was, again, it was a mixture of Gujarati, Swahili, Kutchi, English,
everything together, where I actually thought was that, you know, the Gujarati language. I
thought I was. I knew about my culture. I thought I knew about my background being here in
the UK. But when I got to travel to Gujarat, I actually got to see a complete different side.
And that’s when I thought, Okay, this is difficult, but I’m going to have to do this because I
want to do this, and I want to learn about my culture. I want to learn my language. So that’s
when I sat there, learnt the alphabets from scratch, started reading the newspaper, and I feel
like now I’m proud to say that I’m actually one of the best speaking Gujarati person in my
family.
Lata Desai 08:05
When you were in India, did people identify you through as a foreigner, or did they take you
in as one of them?
Pritee Varsani 08:15
In the beginning, they people saw me as, oh, she’s come from outside. You know, she’s a
foreigner. You know, we need to treat her very differently. But my first trip to Gujarat, I was
supposed to be staying there for three months. I ended up staying there for one year. So
people started getting used to me, and I wanted that to happen. So when I went into the
villages, my condition was, I don’t want to be treated any different. I’m going to come and
stay in your village. However, when I come and stay there, I want to live exactly like how
you guys live, because I want to understand how you do things. So when I went with that
condition, everyone treated me so like, treated me like their own. And that’s what connected
me to my roots more. And it made me feel like this is my life. This is this is where I want.
This is what I want to understand. Because in the beginning it was very much like, Oh no, we
need to give her a room with AC. We need to give her, you know, the English toilets and so
on forth and there was so much, I know we need to make sure she has a table to sit on, you
know, when she’s having dinner. But they gave me the table whilst everyone around me is
sitting on the floor. And it made me feel like, Why are you treating me different? I want to sit
on the floor with you guys. I want to eat with you guys. You know, I want to sleep like the
way you guys are sleeping. If you guys are sleeping on the floor, I want always asleep on the
floor, because I’m here to experience that life. It took time for them to adapt to me, then
myself to adapt to them. I was very open from before.
Rolf Killius 09:54
You have another roots in East Africa, just earlier you said you were just visited. What about
the roots there? Because your Gujarati, for instance, was influenced with or sprinkled with
Swahili
Pritee Varsani 10:09
Yes, So I’ve travelled to Kenya so many times because my family is there. Since the 80s, I’ve
probably done more trips to Keya – No, actually, I lie – more trips now to India, but, you
know, I’ve done so many trips to Africa, and I’ve seen it grow from the 80s to going there last
month, actually being there in December time. And the way it’s evolved, the way the
language has evolved for even for me, like when they say certain things, when they’re
speaking to, you know, the people around them, and they use, you know, when they use
Swahili words, I connect to them. It’s a language that I can be like, I know what you’re talking
about, because we say that just at home. So I feel like picking up the language, the Swahili
language, is a lot more easier for me than going to somewhere like Spain or anywhere else in
the world and trying to adapt to a different language. I feel like going to Kenya, it’s so much
easier. Even if they’re speaking to me in Swahili, I feel like I know what they’re talking about,
and I just feel so connected to that language.
Rolf Killius 11:21
What about the culture there? It’s quite different from Gujarat.
Pritee Varsani 11:26
I feel like the culture within my within my friends and family, that has changed a lot. They
are very forward thinking now, and it’s the thing is, it’s really hard to say, because I’m just
having a conversation now without the I felt really different being around my family there
this time, because I felt like they’re very they were in a position where they had nothing, not a
single penny before, in the 80s, 90s, growing up around them, and sorry, growing up at that
time, they had nothing, and now all of a sudden, they are like the top businessmen there. So
it’s a complete different lifestyle, where before they would do their own work, you know,
when it came to cooking or looking after the kids or cleaning the house, and now they’ve got,
like, a few maids, and they’ve got cooks and chefs. So I see that as a change as well, like
they’re living a lifestyle, that it’s just completely different whereas, and then from that, when
I’ve even I went into the villages, when I went to do my own travels to I went to climb
Kilimanjaro, and I met people, the, you know, the local community there. And I felt a home,
feeling from them, more connection with them. I went to Serengeti, and I went into the Masai
village. And the connection I felt with the Masai, you know, the community, was the same
feeling I felt when I, you know, when we went to India and went into the tribal community,
and when we did our travels to understand the tribal community, I felt that a similar
connection there people that are still in touch with their roots. And that’s when I when I met
those people, it took me back to those villages I went to, but when I was around my friends
and family, I felt like I’ve kind of like gone a little ahead, because they are very different to
they have a very different lifestyle to the people in India and the people in the UK, not saying
It was anything wrong, but it was just very different for me. Just very different. For me, it’s
not something I would want to adapt to.
Rolf Killius 14:08
What do you think about the relationship between the different communities there, for
instance, the Asian community and the black communities? What is the relationship today?
Pritee Varsani 14:17
I don’t want to say in a way where I’m offending as well, because in conversation, I have spoken to Mira that I feel really bad for the Africans in terms of they’re never going to be able to be to have that stand in their own country? Because there
was a time where the Indians were reliant. I mean, that. Uh, they’ve, like, the Indians there
from, like, from my own family, we’re very they’re very reliant on these Africans to get by.
They can’t do anything themselves. That’s how I see it with what, with my community of
people that I was around when I went to Africa.
Pritee Varsani 15:22
It’s just how to say it without offending I don’t know. I feel like I’ll say things in a in a way
where I probably offend an Indian. But I feel like this is why there were lots, I mean, there
were lots of like, gunshots and what do you call it? How do you say children, crimes, and you
know, things like that happening before, because that black community felt like they didn’t have they weren’t getting the jobs that they you know, that they should be getting. And it felt
like when the Indians went there, they were getting they were doing everything, so they were
being that servant to the Indians, and they weren’t getting what they wanted in terms of salary
wise. And so this is from my little conversations that I’ve had with the few the you know,
people from the black communities in the past that because they don’t have that. They have to
try doing things to reach out to get more for themselves. So looking at it on that side, was
feeling like, Okay, fine. I mean, it’s not good that you’re doing that. It’s not a right thing to do
that, but they’re doing that because they want to take that stand as well, whereas currently
being there in the recent times, and seeing that, you know, even being told that Pritee make
sure you look after your stuff, because, you know, don’t put your money lying around, or
make sure you don’t have jewellery lying around. You know, because our servants, they’re,
you know, their hands aren’t clean and so on. But it just makes you think, why aren’t their
hands clean? That means they’re not comfortable with what they’re receiving. So are they
always going to be servants in their own country? Is this how we’re going to treat them? You
know, throughout they’re never going to be able to take their own stand, and that’s what I was
kind of like feeling quite passionate about. And then when I see that, even with the people
that I know have really evolved in life, and then they still taking advantage of, you know,
their servants in that kind of way, just made me feel like my heart goes out to you, because if
you’re putting if the accusations being put on you, it’s just like, you know, we’re getting a new
servant. That’s it. We have to be we have to be careful on our front we have to be careful. So
you’re already putting it in your head that that person’s going to do, you know, create some
kind of crime within, in your home, or something like that. Whether that person’s come with a
clean intention that I’m coming there to, you know, do my job and that’s it, but you’ve already
put it in there that I don’t trust you. You know you’re gonna come and do something. You
know you’re I don’t trust to leave my home to you, and that’s it. That’s that barrier that we’ve
already just put between us, that if we’re gonna have someone in our home, we have to be
careful to just keep anything there, and I feel like that’s just there with everyone.
Lata Desai 18:29
If your observations, you observe all these things since you are brought up in Britain, so now
you are questioning the situation back in Africa about why people, if you were stuck in
Mombasa, you probably might have been the same.
Pritee Varsani 18:49
That’s it. So if I was born and brought up, and if I was raised on that in Kenya, then of course,
my mindset would be according to what I see there, and it will be. Just be like, Okay, this is
the norm. This is how it works. However, because I’m born and brought up in the UK, in a
different country, and then going there, going back and forth there, and then seeing because I
remember going there in the mid 90s, I remember driving somewhere and our tyres being
stuck in a traffic, and our tyres being stolen, just being stuck in traffic. And you know, the
fact that someone had the nerve to actually just come and just take our tyres out was just like,
wow, that’s so random. Who did that? Who would even think to do that? But yes, you know
that actually happened. But then after that, you know, knowing that someone was held at
gunpoint, one of my own family members were held at gunpoint because, you know, they do anything and everything to get money out of you, and, you know, something out of you,
because that’s what they want. Yeah, you experience that, but then you go again, and it’s
things are different. Now there’s more jobs out there for people, you know. it’s Nairobi has
evolved massively, like from where I, you know, 10 years ago, when I went to when I went a
few months ago, it’s completely different, like the bridges that have been created, and, you
know, the more work opportunities there are. So you feel like it’s more safer being out
walking around. You feel that, yes, you get told that Be careful with your phones, be careful
with your money and so on forth. But I went for my walks, I did things, and I felt like, okay,
you know what? I’m not I feel like you’re putting, you know, the people from there, you’re
putting that in my head, because when I’m going out and doing these things, I’m not feeling
that fear. I’m not feeling that some you know that I need to what look around me, and that’s
more so because you’ve allowed these people to go out there and work by giving them more
work opportunities. And I don’t know if that’s from, you know, from China, when now, it’s
literally take, you know, they’ve gone there and kind of, like, started, you know, created these
bridges, and invested quite a lot in Nairobi now, in Kenya. So I don’t know. It’s because
they’ve given all these opportunities now, and with the Indians as well, like, you know,
creating all these new businesses and so on that’s given them more work. That’s keeping them
away from creating all these crimes. I guess,
Lata Desai 21:28
a passionate desire to understand about your roots, and you went to India and and stayed
there. And did you feel the same with the youngsters in Africa? Did they have or did they
become more cosmopolitan or more westernised,
Pritee Varsani 21:42
as in the Indians?
Lata Desai 21:46
the Indians your your family or your far around you, did they, did they have this burning desire to want
to learn about India.?
Pritee Varsani 21:56
from what I felt when I went to India, going to meet, meeting all these people who had so
much passion towards just even wanting to know me and get you know, wanting to go into,
let’s just say, the culture with me. I didn’t feel that with the younger generation in Africa, I felt
that they were very westernised, who themselves. Gujarati wouldn’t even be a language for
them, to be honest with you, even Swahili is very little for them as well, because English is
the main language for them, and that’s what they’re focusing on. So even when I was trying to
speak to, I would say, my nieces and nephews. You know, the few kids that I was around tried
to speak to them in Gujarati, because I’m very passionate about the Gujarati language and
keeping it alive. Even when I tried to speak to them, they’ll look at me like, why? What language you speaking to me? And why are you speaking to me? You know, in Gujarati, why
can’t we speak in English? You’re from London, so you should speak to me, you know, in
English. But it was like, No, you should know this, you know, yeah, so I felt a very, a big
difference with the younger generation from Africa to what I see in India is very, very
different.
Lata Desai 23:20
It’s funny how migration shapes us, isn’t it? All these experiences of migration. Now I want to
talk to you about I’m quite fascinated by your ‘chhunddas’, your tattoos, very Gujarati, very
Kutchi tattoo. And then I’m also bit intrigued about your hairstyle. So where does your
identity? How do you identify yourself as?
Pritee Varsani 23:49
So I love the Gujarati folk culture. My tattoo comes so it’s Traajvaa. It’s come from looking at
my grandma and the older generation. So of course, they all did Traajvaa. However, my mum
has the dots on her face as well. It means something. Each and every dot actually represents
some kind of solar system, some kind of planets, and there’s a story behind them. And
growing up and seeing, of course, my grandma with the tattoos on her arms, it was very
interesting for me, because I loved, I’ve grown up loving tattoos. And of course, I’ve done the
whole, you know, let’s get the needle and, you know, just with the machine, and do tattoos on
my body and so on watching others, but when I did what I’ve done on my neck, was
something that just connected me to my grandparent and my grandma and my relatives, and it
was just like I want to do it in the way that they did it, which was hand poked, because that’s
the memory that I want. So I actually got that done in the UK, and I found a tattooist in
London who does it in the traditional way, where she hand pokes, and it took us six hours to
do what I’ve done, very painful, but I’m glad I got it done, because I understood what my
grandparents went through at that time to get these kind of tattoos done. And I love it. And
because I’m I’m an artist, and I like to stand out in different ways. So me creating this kind of
hairstyle, or every time I like to do something different, even when it comes to wearing
clothing wise. And so, I mean, there’s a lot of inspiration support from Mira. But I like to do
things where I feel like, you know, I want to stand out in in a different way and just come out
of the box, like, don’t want to I don’t want to be where everyone else is. I want to just be
someone different, whether that’s my singing style or whether that’s my look style, I just want
to be able to stand out in what I do and but whilst I’m standing out in what I do, I’m showing
the Gujarati culture that it’s not Gujarati culture. Gujarati music isn’t the old thing that you
listen to that, that, you know, the bhajans, that mentality of, oh, you know, Gujarati songs
mean garba. Gujarati songs mean bhajans. No, you know, there could be a fun way to go into
the whole Gujarati culture. And you can do all these things, but bring it in a different way.
And I think that’s what I’m trying to bring out. So when I do perform in Navratri, I wear
Bagri. You know that it’s not just men that can wear paagdi. We can wear paagdi. We can
make it look cool. And we can just make Gujarati culture look really cool by just
incorporating their textiles and their different styles to the western side of stuff and see how
we can make it work. There’s no limits to in terms of, no, this is Gujarati culture. No, how
can we experiment with it? And that’s what I want to do. I just want to experiment with it as much as I can. So I know that a younger generation will look at it and be like, Oh, Gujarati
culture is cool, and that’s my main thing. I just want it to be a cool culture. We like to
experiment with different types of clothing and so on. It’s about what feels right and what
looks right, and it’s just about combining the two together. Because I live in the UK. I am
from here, but my heart is, of course, just goes to Gujarat all the time. And I, you know, I’m
from Kutch, and I love the Kutchi culture. I love the textiles. I love everything about, not just
Kutch but in Gujarat as a whole, like the kind of, you know, work we have within our
clothing and so on. Jewellery wise, it’s about how to then combine it with, you know, today’s
because I can’t walk around in London with a Kutchi outfit like, you know, that’s not
something I can do in my day to day life. How can I incorporate it into my day to day life?
And that’s just what we like to do. So if it’s like, if I, you know, if I can wear a bandhani scarf,
for example, I will do that if I can, you know, go like, go find ajirakh material and turn that
into a shirt, or add patches to my jeans. Then how am I incorporating it into my clothing
where I’m still connecting with my roots and still connecting with my you know, that that
style that I want to adapt and just bring it into the Western, the western side of me, and just
making it look more cool.
Lata Desai 28:50
What triggered all your passion to go back home and finding the roots and the true roots?
Pritee Varsani 28:58
My journey has been very different, actually. I’ve been born and brought up here in the UK.
I’ve not been exposed as much to our culture. It was only through my community events and
the temple. So I would do my weekly trips to the to the Mandir, and we’ll have our annual
community event, and that’s what I would go to, where I would dance and so on, but to learn
about our culture and so on, I feel like because my parents themselves when they came into
the country, they needed to work, work, work, work, to get by. So we didn’t get to sit down
and even understand about the roots of the culture. You’d get a few things from the
grandparents, but it was a lot of religious stories. You know, this is the Ramayan, this is the
Mahabharat and so on forth. So that’s what I would learn more about. And it was just when I
started, when actually later on in my life, I would say, somebody noticed, somebody actually
pointed out to me that, you know what, Pritee, you actually have a good voice. You should do
something with it. Where I never knew, because my parents never actually thought to send
me to anything when it comes to arts or, you know, music or dance or anything. For them, it
was just like academics, you know, school, and that’s it. They were never exposed to it
themselves. So they never thought that let me send you to, you know, to a music school or
anything like that. And my parents don’t come from any we don’t have any musical
background, you know. So they wouldn’t think of it. And I didn’t think of it either. And I
think it was just when I turned 18 or 19, when some of somebody from work said to me,
Pritee, you have a good voice. You should maybe just go for a voice check or something like
that in the studios. And through connections I did, I went to a studio, and at that time, my
Gujarati wasn’t great, so it wasn’t that I wanted to take the Gujarati route. I was more into the
Bollywood side of the stuff. So it was Bollywood music and Bollywood, you know, songs,
that’s what I wanted to take forward. So I thought, Okay, fine. And when I went to the studio and I did a vocal check, the guy there actually said to me, you got a very good voice, and you
can go forward in this and again, at that time, I had no idea how things work, because I didn’t
even know the Sa of music. And then for me at that time, was like, No, I want to go to India.
And I think I should at least go and learn the basics of music, or basics of what I’m trying to
get into here, all of a sudden. And that’s when I went to Mumbai, thinking I’m going to go
into the Bollywood side of stuff. It was only up until when I went there and through a big
celebrity, Falguni Pathak, she heard me sing in a bhajan. She did a bhajan performance, and
she called me up on stage through a friend of mine, and asked me to sing with her. And at that
time, because she was singing bhajans, and I couldn’t sing bhajans because that wasn’t the
route I was taking. And I said to her that I don’t know if I’m gonna sing it correctly, because I
don’t even know these words. And she said to me, I’m gonna sing a dhoon. You just follow
me, because I’ve called you up on stage now, you just follow me and just just sing. So I said,
Okay, fine. And I did that. She sang a dhoon, and I sang after her. And then she said to me,
after I finished, she said, just make sure you just wait. After the show, I want to speak to you.
And of course, I was like panicking, thinking, oh my god, Falguni Pathak wants to talk to me.
I wonder what she will say to me. I was actually panicking. So after the show, I spoke to her,
and she said to me, what is your what’s your plans? What do you want to do? And I said, I
want to be a Bollywood singer, you know? And she was like, No, I don’t think you should
take that route. What I feel is, what we’re losing, is the Gujarati culture, the Gujarati music. If
everyone wants to go into Bollywood, there’s so many kids that are just rising to go into
Bollywood. Everyone wants to get into that. But who wants to do Gujarati if that? If we don’t
take that stand from now, then we’re going to lose our Gujarati culture. We’re going to lose
our Gujarati music. We need people to do that. When she said that to me, I thought, You
know what? I know nothing about Gujarati music. I know nothing , don’t even know the
language properly. I’m going to go and do this. And that’s when I went to Rajkot and my
music teacher, Lalita Ben Goradhara. She my dad, of course, knew her because he went to
her bhajans and so on. So through that connection, I went to her house, and I was, of course,
speaking to her in my Gujarati that I thought was the correct Gujarati, which was a Gujarati
Kutchi Swahil , English. And she looked she was looking at me like, I don’t know what
language you’re speaking to me in. And I actually felt like, Oh, my goodness, all my life I’ve
been speaking a language that is incorrect. That is what we would call Khichdi. That’s what
I’ve done. I’ve made a Khichdi of a language, and I’m trying to speak that language to a
person who actually knows Gujarati. And she said, No, we’re going to do everything from the
start now, and that’s when she wrote K, Kha , Gha – the Gujarati alphabets for me, and then
she gave me newspapers. She said, now you’re going to start reading these newspapers, and
you’re going to start learning the language. And that’s when I started learning the language. I
started going into she was because she’s a Bhajan Sant Vani artist, her shows used to start
from 10pm go on to 7am in the morning, pretty much every night. And if she’s not
performing at night, she would go into recording studios in the daytime. So she asked, she
because I was living with her, she asked me to go with her to these performances and go to
the studio, which I was happy to do. Wasn’t really happy to go into the bhajans, because I
could not stand the sound of the manjiras. For me, it was too loud by the ears. It was, it was
piercing my ears. That’s how I felt at that time. And so I went and I was there, literally, you
can see me still, currently, you’ll see those random YouTube videos where I’m sitting behind her and I’m falling asleep in the back. But I still sat through those bhajans, not interested as
much, not understanding what’s going on here. But I still went, and I was like, Okay, let me I
try understanding how she’s sitting, how she’s performing, how she’s doing, how the music,
how they, you know, how the they’re combining as a, you know, as a group musicians, and so
on. So I started doing all of that. Started looking at in a different way. It was only up until she
asked me to go to Junagadh for the Shiv Ratri No Melo and I was told by other artists, like,
Pritee, you don’t want to go there, because all you’re going to hear is Sant vani bhajans like
daayros that’s happening there, and it’s, there’s too many people, and I don’t know if you
want, you don’t want to be around there. So everybody was putting me off. There’s like, that’s
like, the worst place to, you know, go for me, not for them, but for me. So but that I tried to
talk to my music teacher, and I tried to get myself out of that, and she was like, No, you’re
gonna come to it, and you’re going to experience the Shivratri Melo, and you’re going to
experience that side. So I was like, Okay, fine. You know what? I can’t argue with her. Now
I’m going to have to go. And the first day I got there, as soon as I got there, it was five days.
The moment I got there, my slippers broke, so five days I had to walk around with no
slippers. And the first four days, it was really irritating for me, or getting really agitated
because there were so many people, and people were just, you know, hitting into you and so
on. And it was getting me really frustrated. It’s like, why there’s so much space around you?
Why do they have to brush past you? And that’s what kept happening. And so I was getting
irritated, and it was only on the last night on the Shivaratri, on actual Shivaratri, I kid you not.
I don’t know what happened. The manjila sound that was so irritating for me became so sweet
all of a sudden, was oh my gosh, like you sound so sweet all of a sudden. And the bhajans
that I could not understand became like I could connect to it. And it was like a transformation
that was happening, and I don’t know what that was, and I still, from till date. I still can’t put
like what happened to me on that day, but that’s what I wanted to get into. It’s like, No, I want
to do bhajans. I want to do Sant Vaani I want to do this is my culture. This is my roots. This is
what’s making me feel like. This is my home, you know, and I just want to do that. And
coming back here singing those songs. Yes, that older generation will connect to them, but
the next generation, how am I going to get them to connect to them? That’s that was my
challenge. Because, like, what I did, I went out to India and stayed there, you know, the first
year I stayed there for one year like that, I’ve been staying there for eight to 10 years.
Pritee Varsani 38:47
I did that, but another person isn’t going to be able to do that. But how can I bring that here in
a way where it looks cool and it looks fun and you know that I want to know about my
culture, I had to try adapting that lifestyle to this lifestyle. I’m bringing it both together, and
that’s what was the challenge for me. But it was a fun challenge, and in that challenge is
being like, No, this is what we’re going to do, and this is how we’re going to make it fun, and
this is how we’re going to get the kids involved and the younger generation and anyone
involved, and that’s what it was for us to just make it cool.
Lata Desai 39:23
Tell me, how is this challenge manifesting now? Do you find people are attracted to your
work and connecting with what you are trying to portray to them?
Rolf Killius 39:34
I guess you should first explain what she’s doing nowadays.
Pritee Varsani 39:40
I feel from where we started, when it came to because I used to perform for Garba, you know,
in different places. And I was always told Pritee you need to sing Bollywood songs to get the
get the community engaged. And I was really against that, because it. Like it’s Navratri. Why
do we have to sing Bollywood songs during navrati? Why is it that those nine days in a year,
we can’t respect MA and just sing for Ma? You know, we should do that because that’s her
time. We can listen to Bollywood anytime with the I’ve got nothing against Bollywood. I
listen to bollywood most of the times anyway, but for those Nine Nights, why can’t we just
dedicate and devote that time to ma? So it used to really frustrate me when I used to go and
perform in different communities, and they used to tell me, that’s the only way we will be
able to engage with the crowd, is by singing Bollywood songs. However, because I was
against it, I never did perform Bollywood songs. Yes, my co singers would perform
Bollywood songs. But I would refuse to do that. For me, it was just traditional, and it was
only up until when, you know, in 2013 when my cousin said to me, how would you want to
do it? What’s your goal? What’s What how do you want to do? How would you where do you
see yourself, basically, with the Gujarati culture and so on. And I said to him, when it comes
to Navratri, I want to sing the garbas that we are supposed to be singing. I want to perform
what we’re supposed to be performing, and not feeling that we need to piggy bank
offBollywood to get a community to come together. And he said, Okay, you tell me what you
want, and I’ll be there to support you. And that’s when it was, yes, it was our first year of
Navratri. It was a struggle for us because we organised our own Navratri the way we wanted,
the way I wanted to do it, to bring in a group from India, because I wanted that traditional
feel, the traditional connection. So it was like, Okay, let’s let me try that and see how it
portrays. And the thing about the way we work is, when we get booked out as artists, it’s like,
okay, fine, we’re going to do what you want us to do, but when are we going to be able to do
what we want to do? And that’s when we created Red Lotus events. And it was like, No, this
is where we’re going to show what we want to do. And you come to our performance and see
this, what how we portray our culture. Of course, in the beginning, we felt like, okay, the
general, you know, the crowd were a lot more elderly at that time, just elderly in the
beginning sometimes would, you know, like Navratri, going back to that, we started off with
only 30 people in the audience, but it we didn’t lose hope from that, because we know, like
we did that, even though people were telling us, okay, Don’t do it, because clearly it’s not
gonna work. Maybe we do need to do Bollywood. Maybe that is the way to get the crowd in.
No, it’s because people don’t know about it, and we just need to just keep putting it out there
that this is what we’re doing. And we just need to make sure people feel that it’s actually cool,
it’s actually fun to you know, hear our music and hear these traditional Gujarati songs. So we
didn’t come away from what we wanted to set off. Start off with. We’re still doing that. From
2013 when we first started, gorba, to 2024 last year. Gorba, we’re still doing the same songs.
We haven’t changed. We have not added any Bollywood influence. We’ve not added nothing
to it. If anything, our audience have grown. They’ve become more younger. They would say it themselves. Oh, you know that Prachin song that you’ve been singing this whole time? Why
don’t you sing it this garba? Can you sing? I’ll get text messages from my cousin’s sister,
make sure you sing that old, you know, Gujarati Garbo song today, and so on. Which makes
me feel proud, because that’s the girl who goes to clubs and who goes out partying and who
goes to her Bollywood nights, and who has that lifestyle, but when she comes to garba, she
wants to listen to that traditional Garbo, and that’s what makes me feel like, yes, you know,
thank you. We’re doing something right.
Lata Desai 44:04
Do you have any plan, future plans about how you can make this stick out to the next
generation?
Speaker 1 44:12
I think Mira will be better at explaining this, but I will say wherever I go. So we’re doing kids
mentorships, and we’re doing other events, like we’ve given a platform like Rangeelu
Gujarat, and that’s primarily for the next generation to feel that it’s okay to be Gujarati. You
know, we have all of these things, and for us as well, it’s also a learning thing for us as well,
because we’re the more we’re doing these kind of events, we’re digging more deeper into our
culture for us to actually pass on. And when it comes to the kids mentorship going on to that
we’ve all grown up, kind of like going into kathas and, you know, going to mandirs and
volunteering and being a part of the community in that way, and that’s what gave us our space
of knowing about our culture and knowing about the little that we could for those seven or
nine days of Katha. You know, we go there and volunteer, and we got to be a part of our
community, and that made us feel like, okay, that brought us closer to our culture. However,
that was it. So we want to create that space where we want to offer that same thing back to
the younger generation, where you come and you know you’ll be mentored by the correct
people in the departments. And if you want to be security, then you’d get the support from the
security team. If you want to be a singer, you’d get support from the singing, you know, from
the singers and the musicians and so on forth. There’s a wide community that can support the
next generation, and we want to do that, to pass that on, because they are the future, and they
are the ones that are going to take this forward. So even by doing Rangeelu Gujarat and so
on, is, yes, it’s for our satisfaction as well, but it’s also for the next generation to feel like,
wow. This is our culture. This is our people, and this is something we want to just take
forward
Rolf Killius 46:20
A question like, where do you really come from? Was that ever asked – this question?
Pritee Varsani 46:31
Sometimes I don’t know where I belong. I love the fact that I’m British and I’ve adapted a
very diverse culture here, but I also love that I’ve picked up so much of the Gujarati culture,
and I’ve introduced that to myself and being born and brought up here, how I’ve adapted the
two cultures together. I love that, because I can go to India, I can go to anywhere in the
world. When, at the moment, I come back to the UK, I feel like I’m home, and that’s because there’s so much to learn here in the UK from different people. And we work a lot with, like,
just recently, we worked with an African culture for one of the shows that we just did a
month ago, but learning their style and their music and their everything about them, and then
adapting the Gujarati culture to that, but not just the Gujarati, but then the western side to
that, and the Punjabi side to that, there was, there’s so many different elements that we
brought together, but we were only able to do that by being open within ourselves that, no,
I’m not just a Gujarati, I’m not just a British I’m very open to adapt to everything. So, yeah,
Rolf Killius 48:01
You know, you know this country has also a colonial past, and actually, why your parents,
grandparents had to move around was related to the colonial empire. Does it bother you, or
does it, what is your take on that?
Pritee Varsani 48:16
I personally think it doesn’t bother me, because it’s very for me, it’s very different now, for
what they went my parents didn’t go through those kind of challenges what they the others
went through in Uganda. So I from hearing my parents’ migration story, it hasn’t I feel like it
hasn’t affected them for it to affect me.
Lata Desai 48:50
What do your parents think of you now that you are digging into becoming a folk singer and
and you said that you were never exposed you, never was sent to class or whatever
Rolf Killius 49:04
And also in relation to the academic thing, what they wanted?
Pritee Varsani 49:11
My dad passed away, of course, 15 years ago. But when both of them, my parents, both my
parents, when I told them, I want to do music, it wasn’t something like they thought was a
thing. They thought music is a side hobby, you know, you don’t, we don’t have anything to do
with music within the family, like, how you’re going to get by? Because, I think for them, was
like, No, you know, the normal thing is becoming a doctor or becoming a lawyer or an
accountant or working in a bank and so on, and I think that’s what my mum’s dreams were for
me, whereas my dad was very chilled, it was very much like, it doesn’t matter, you’ll still be
my favourite. You know, you can do whatever you want in life, but I won’t love you any less.
And when I told my dad that I want to do, I do want to go and sing in India. Yes, for him,
there was, of course, that side, that one concern that, how am I going to live without you
knowing that I’m going to come home and not have you in the house? That was one thing that
was his, No, I don’t think you should go. But then he also felt like, No, you know, you’ve just
found something that you want, you want to explore. My support is there so you go and do
what you feel is right? If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, not in those words, because he was,
he wasn’t very vocal on how he felt, but looking into it, I know this is how he was trying to
push me into it. And my mum, at that time, she didn’t really have much of a voice. What my
dad said is what mattered. So she didn’t really have much to say. And when I did go there and do what I went, you know, did what I went to do. And when I came back with my first album,
which was released by T series, of course, my dad was that proud dad who went everywhere
because he was a plumber by profession. And whenever he would go and do plumbing at
someone’s house, he would take my CD there and be like, Oh, look, this is my daughter. You
know she’s I’ve only got one CD here, but we’ll have to watch that like, We’ll watch it
together. And then he’ll make every household that he goes to watch that one CD. And then
he’ll end up leaving it there’s but really, in his van, he would have a box of my CDs, but he’ll
tell everyone that he’s only got one CD, so he makes sure that he sits there with them,
watching my whole album. But that was just him being so proud. He would never tell me, but
he was my biggest supporter, and he pushed me so much out there in the community, telling
everyone that, oh, my daughter sings. My daughter sings. So if my mum, before used to feel
like, No, you still need to get you this is not a job. You still need to go into something. But
after dad passed away, I feel like she relaxed more and she was like, You know what? Just do
what you’re doing. Because I think when she started seeing that I was doing my own events,
and I started organising these things, and for her, it felt like when people were telling her that,
wow, you know, your daughter’s done something really amazing here and this, you know,
when she used to hear about it outside, that used to make her feel like, oh, people are talking
about her in a very positive way. And when I was doing performances, and when I would
perform on stage, and people would come to her and be like, oh, you know your daughter, if
they will say something like compliment me or anything, it made her feel proud that okay,
you know what she’s doing the right thing. She’s done the right thing. So, yeah, so that had to
change. They had to turn but I think for them, they had to find that, because they never knew
about it. She never knew that these kind of things exist. So it was something that she needed
to learn in her time, and feel like, okay, well, maybe this is a career, and maybe this is a job,
but maybe there is a life here, and it’s not just the nine to five, you know, going into an office
and doing all accounts and so on. Maybe there is a different lifestyle as well, but she had to
understand that through my journey and and I think now she’s finally started to get to terms to
it. She also promotes me a lot like, Yeah, her support. Honestly, I would not be able to do it if
her support wasn’t there.
Lata Desai 53:49
Can I put you on the spot? Can you sing a little piece for us?
Pritee Varsani 53:53
Sings ……………
Lata Desai 55:04
Fantastic.
Pritee Varsani 55:05
Thank you.
Lata Desai 55:06
And the words of that, because she’s talking about, come to our land..Aapna malak ma’ , you
know, it’s good, very apt,
Pritee Varsani 55:16
and there’s only so much we can do to keep promoting it. But then it just looks like we’re just
itself. We’re just promoting our own stuff constantly, constantly, but we need other people
from outside to see it, to be like, can you come and do it here or but there has to be an
audience for it as well. There is an audience, but that’s the older generation audience, but we
need to also to get that next generation as well, because then it’s gone. I mean, I’m trying to
train my niece up. She’s a 12 year old, 13 year old now, and I started to get her into shows
with me. She’s got a beautiful voice, but because she’s, of course, born and raised here, her
thing is more towards the western side, but I give her that platform to perform with me on
stage for my annual show that I do in January, and I started off with giving her the first song
was ladki. I said, you sing ladki, and we’ll both sing that together. But of course, now her
voice is matured up. So I gave her another song last year and then another song this year. But
however, for the kids mentorship that we’ve been doing for Navratri. I’ve been teaching her
the prachin garbas, like Chapti bhari , Chokha and Ma Pawa Te Gadma and those kind of
ones. And it’s like, these are our songs. I want you to try tapping into I know you’re into your
western songs, which is fine, there’s nothing wrong with it. But also know that these are our
songs as well, so I’m trying to somehow get them in there, but then trying, from her Western
influence and from her Western coaching, how she can then implement that Western style to
that I want her to come up with that creativity, rather than me saying, No, I want you to do it
like this. You’ve now seen best of both. How are you going to merge the two together? Is
what the challenge I want her to and she’s a fresh mind. She’s a 13 year old. So how are you
going to adapt to that? How are you going to work with that? I don’t want to tell you this is
how you should adapt to it, but I want to see what they can come that generation can come
with. And even like working here, to start making songs as well. So we’ve created, we’re the
first in the UK to create British Gujarati, you know, strong songs, and we’ve in the beginning,
our first song that we released here in the UK was in 2016 we just tried it out and thought,
let’s see how the audience received this. And it actually was received quite well. So, and then
we did that. And then, going forward, every year, we started releasing a song. And then there
was one year that we did a song called zapza, yeah, which wasn’t a, which comes from, it
comes from a Garbo from we found we heard it in, you know, in Baroda, and we were like,
how can we make it, you know, turn it into something different, where people play in the
clubs, for example, and we changed the whole style around and date till date, people actually
playing that in the clubs. So it’s a proud moment that a Gujarati song is now being played in a
club. So we had to, you know, we had to turn that around. And, you know, just recent, last
year before I worked with one of my other friends, and we said, how, you know, because
there’s no boundaries to a Gujarat song, we can’t just say, okay, Gujarati song should only be
released during Navratri time, because then it’s only going to be related to, you know, garbas. How can we release it later on, in a different time to Navratri? And how can we make it
sound different where it’s not about God, you know, let’s create something different. And we
did. We sat together and we put a whole theme together that, why can’t we just talk about our
day to day lives? Why can’t we because that’s what Gujarati Folk is. Gujarati folk songs are
about your day to day lives. They’re talking about them being in the villages and, you know,
either doing something like some homework or, you know, the husband going to work and
the wife telling the husband not to go to work. That’s what the Gujarati folk songs are about.
There’s no religious connections there. So why do we have to add a religious connection
here? Why can’t we just talk about our day to day life and make it more interesting for the,
you know, the new generation, next generation, and that’s what we worked on. And we spoke
to a music producer, and we added Afro beats to it, and we made it about friendship, that it
doesn’t have to be about love. Doesn’t have to be about, you know, the girl loves the boy, and,
you know, there’s a romantic connection here. Why can’t it be about us as friends? This is
real. We are really good friends. Let’s just talk about us and us enjoying ourselves. And that’s
what we did, and we made a video to it, and it just, you. My nephew who listens to like heavy
metal stuff and trap music, and you know that kind of song, who does not love Bollywood
songs, who does not love Gujarati songs, he listened to that. He goes, this is my framework
Gujarati song. So we tapped into a different Gujarati there, the fact that he heard it. He goes, I
love this. This is so cool. But it’s like no gujarati song is not just religious. It’s not just you
know, about relationships and love and blah, blah, blah. It could be about anything, but it’s
how we can make it work, and it’s about just enjoying and adapting to it. That’s all it is.