Why this 20-year-old Telugu ghazal singer wants to join the Indian Civil Services

If you know who Ghazal Srinivas AKA Kesiraju Srinivas is, chances are that you know Sanskrithi Ghazal AKA Kesiraju Sanskrithi as well. Sure, the 20-year-old has been performing with and without her father, taking after the pioneering Telugu ghazal maestro (so much so that she feels she grew up on stage), but Sanskrithi still holds her own. And this was made plenty clear in our conversation with the youngster who was born and brought up in Hyderabad.
 

She has been awarded the Child Prodigy Award at the International Children’s Film Festival, Ghazal Swara Sudha by Greetway Inc, US and many more

Trained in Carnatic music and Kuchipudi and currently pursuing Hindustani music, Sanskrithi has been travelling with her father for performances since the age of six. Her first album Chiru-Gajalu was launched by none other than (late) Padma Bhushan Dr C Narayana Reddy in 2011. "The most valuable lesson I learnt from my father was emotion," says the youngster. And just like her father took ghazals beyond the preassumed themes to singing about village, a mother's love and so on, Sanskrithi too ventures into themes that are different. "But I believe I am still a work in progress and I have a long way to go," says the youngster who is pursuing her Bachelor's in History, Economics and Political Science from CHRIST (Deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru.

With her father | (Pic: Sanskrithi Ghazal)

Though Sanskrithi has taken to the online-mode of performance quite seamlessly, she recalls with fondness some of her most memorable performances. Like the one in Ravindra Bharathi in 2016, where she received the blessings of Padma Shri Yella Venkateswara Rao or the one in 2018 at Prasad Film Labs where she sang ghazals written by poets from across the country. Now, she is taking over Instagram and what can we say except that her posts are helping us get through these tough days. "It is the ghazals I sing that I take inspiration from when I feel down and out," says the singer about the source of her motivation. That's what gets her out of the bed, bright and early, to do riyaz (practice in Hindi) and perfect her ghazal-singing skills.
 

She also played young Rudrama Devi in her guru’s dance ballet Rudrama - The Saga of the Warrior Queen

Now why we say that Sanskrithi is a force of her own is because though she is infinitely passionate about ghazals, she hopes to serve the country in her own way, by joining the Indian Civil Services. "I do plan on taking the exam and if I get through, I will have two ways in which I can serve this country," she says.