“What is missing in me?” 23-year-old Darshana Kashyap, who has been previously appreciated by the likes of Bollywood greats Shankar Mahadevan, Harshdeep Kaur, mulls over the question posed to her during a recent chit-chat. It came across as a curious proposition to put to a girl who is so full of beans and more importantly has an extremely melodious voice.
Darshana has been singing since she was 5, much to the influence of her mother who herself wanted to be a singer but destiny held other plans. During the initial years, she performed choruses at various gatherings apart from pulling off famous covers.
However, as she approached the final years of school and eventually higher school, music composing and singing took the backseat while academies led the wheels of her life. The notion of her family that she has a better future in academies remained the obstinate footnote for her career back then.
It was in the second year of college (Delhi University) when Darshana decided to revive her music interest and this time with a promise to never bag down whatsoever. But again, it took just a few months for her to stumble upon tuberculosis and pleural effusion, only to leave her in tears and slimming hopes of living her dream. BUT, she didn’t give up!
She went through a successful operation, recuperated and thereafter, shifted back to her hometown. It took her sometime to again make a comeback but eventually did. In 2019, she set things moving with gigs where she was the centre of all applauds (what a comeback, eh!).
What’s next? She is all geared up to release her debut album in the next few months. Also, going ahead, she is planning to fan out Assamese folk music to all corners of the country.
Darshana is habitually a vocal young woman who makes her stand against social issues. She is also preparing to tell stories in order to address the burning issues of the community at large, something which, she believes, people need to be made aware of.
Life is all about how motivated you can be from a human story! 