The meaning of existence

Singer Vyaasa M, a Mumbai-based Malayali, talks about his well-received new single Wajood-e-Sabab and his musical journey  

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sILIHZCBlTY

By Shevlin Sebastian 

On an idle morning, the Mumbai-based singer/songwriter Vyaasa M was flipping through videos on YouTube when he came across a commencement speech by American talk show host Oprah Winfrey at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2014. At one point she said, “Once your personality meets your purpose in life, nobody can stop you.” 

It sent a jolt through Vyaasa and he immediately said to himself, “How true.” Quickly, he got in touch with a lyricist friend Shamsher Singh Beniyaaz and they wrote the lyrics. The song, made with the help of producer Himonshu Parikh, is called Wajood-e-Sabab. “Wajood means existence and Sabab is reason,” says Vyaasa. “So the Urdu words stand for ‘the reason for existence’.” 

The video begins with a long-haired bearded young man running down a dark street with a troubled look on his face. Then he enters his house, goes to the bathroom and looks at the mirror and does not like what he sees. He rushes out and flips through his mobile phone.  

Then he is shown writing lyrics and singing. “But then he does not sing in public because he is unsure,” says Vyaasa. Meanwhile, he is an underperformer in his office and his boss castigates him. But, over a period of time, he reaches a stage when he wants to bring out the talent inside him. So, he decides to leave his job and start singing. But when he approaches music companies they reject him. One said, “You are good but not great.” 

Then he decides to put out his song and asked, on Facebook, for a team to shoot the video. The finale happens when he releases the song. 

But what is captivating and hypnotic is the singing and some excellent electronic music. The song, like all good ones, grows on you the more you listen to it. Apart from Vyaasa, his friend Vivek Hariharan, a professional singer, also lends his voice.   

Listeners are enthralled. Vijesh Divakaran says, “Great picturisation. The music gets deeper because of the video. It was motivational.” Devesh Agrawal says, “Awesome song... Awesome lyrics... Awesome topic... Wajood-e-sabab... Reason for existence... Awesome job guys.” Pavithra Nair says, “Very catchy tune. Loved it.” 

Vyaasa wanted to tell a story that would resonate with everybody. “There are many comments on YouTube and Instagram where people say they have a friend like the man in the video or seen a guy like him,” he says. “So I am happy with the response.”  

Vyaasa, a Malayali, grew up in Dombivli, a suburb of Mumbai, where he studied at the St. Therese Convent School. Throughout his schooling, the thought of music never came to his mind. “I lived in an environment where education was regarded is all-important,” he says. 

Later, he got admission into the Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology at Kovalam. It was during this time that he began to take part in festivals and realised that he had a talent for music. After he graduated in 2012, he returned home and told his parents he wanted to be a musician. “They thought I was joking,” says Vyaasa.

But Vyaasa remained steadfast. He worked for a couple of years, to clear off his student loan, and then started his full-time music career. He has worked as an assistant keys arranger, played keyboard and became a music arranger. “It is a competitive industry,” he says. “But I am glad I am on the journey.” 

Asked the prospects for independent music, Vyaasa says, “After the 1990s, this is the best time. There is a digital space to show your work without the need to get approval from anybody. We can now create content in parallel with the mainstream.” 

Vyaasa’s next single, ‘Kyu Tumne? (Why have you?)’ will be released soon. “It is about a heartbreak, but sounds like a love song,” he says.