EDISON, NJ (TIP):  Kailash Kher, award-winning Indian pop-rock and Bollywood playback singer, was hosted at TV Asia Aug 17 for a live interactive session and a community reception.

Kher, who was recently conferred the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, is known for his unique and powerful voice and music style influenced by Indian folk and Sufi music.

More than 200 members of the community attended. Kher was welcomed and led into the TV Asia auditorium by chairman H R Shah, himself a recent recipient of the Padma Shri.

In welcoming Kher, Shah was joined at the event by Dr Navin Mehta, chairman of Bharatiya Vidhya Bhawan USA and Ramesh Patel, chairman of Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) of NY, NJ and CT.

Kher, who spoke in Hindi as well as English, took questions, interacting over two hours with an engaging audience.

Often philosophical and emotive, Kher spoke eloquently about his life and career. He started off by recounting his days in New Delhi, where he grew up. He said his music was a summary of his life’s experiences.

“My music is an extension of my struggles, failures and successes,” he told the audience. “I continue to learn every day and imbibe it in my singing.”

Responding to an audience question, Kher noted he stayed focused even in his most difficult days. “I had set my eyes on being a musician and after I moved to Mumbai in 2001, I realized it was impossible to get work for an untrained singer like me, but I never lost hope.”

Kher’s musical pedigree draws from his father, who was an amateur musician and whose performances of traditional folk songs were a regular household event. His first brush with music came in his childhood. Brought up in a musical atmosphere, from his school days, he was enchanted and fascinated by music, listening to his father’s Indian folk songs all day.

During his TV Asia interaction, Kher entertained the audience with some of his selective poetry as well singing. The entire session was taped by TV Asia, to be broadcast on Aug 24.