Hyderabad, TELANGANA:

Hyderabad:

Since the time Indian women got the liberty to pursue jobs, most have fulfilled their ambitions by working in the government sector, banks and multinational companies. However, Sajida Begum from the Maula Ali suburb of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, has broken a new glass ceiling by establishing herself in ‘musical acoustics and audio engineering.’ She has not just learnt the ropes of the industry, but become an expert in her field.

For the same reason, President Ram Nath Kovind presented her the ‘Ladies Award’ recognising her as “India’s first female music technician” in 2018.

Every part of her life journey reflects her love for music.  

Interest in sound mixing and engineering

Sajida says she wanted to enter the music industry right from her school days. Alongside pursuing studies, she would often participate in competitions held at Hyderabad’s famous Ravindra Bharathi Theatre. She demonstrated her talent at various programmes and contests on Doordarshan and All India Radio as well.  

She recounted an incident when a folk singer from Andhra, once, spotted her passion and told her about the various genres of music — folk, classical, Bollywood, and others. Her interest grew and she became determined to try something new.

Sajida says that she completed an animation course and then a PG diploma in the subject while finishing her XIIth Standard studies.

Meanwhile, she had the opportunity to go to a studio with her friend. Here, she displayed such great technical knowledge of the devices and equipment, that the owners were impressed and offered her a job. She worked here as an assistant to the music director for about five years.

Making a mark in the industry over a decade

Talking about her current projects, Sajida says she aims to bring as many stories on the digital audio format as possible. This allows authors and societies to preserve their knowledge. She has recently helped 40 children record their poems in audio format.

Sajida has served in many Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films as a sound engineer over the past 10 years. She has done dubbing, background music and complete audio mix. Besides, she is responsible for the success of several jingles, music albums and TV serials.

She has worked with leading film directors like Dasari Narayana Rao, Teja and Puri Jagannadh.

The only female music technician in the country, Sajida has also found her way into the ‘International Audiobook.’ This is a collection of interviews with women achievers in the audio field from across the globe. It’s called ‘Women in Audio.’

Despite this, Sajida says that it will still take some time for India and the world to recognise the contributions of women sound engineers.

Encouraging more women to venture into the field

Sajida says there’s no gender discrimination in the music industry. In fact, she got more work and with more confidence from her employers due to her being a woman. She said families must encourage their girls if they take interest in music, just like her parents did.

For Muslim women she said, a lot of them get into Mehndi application, beautician and tailoring courses; but they can explore fields beyond these as well. Muslim women need to be provided education so they are empowered and made more aware of all the career avenues available to them.

Sajida said she wishes to start her own post-production studio and a music school. She would like to employ as many women as she can in them, she said.     

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz The Voice / Home> Women / by awazthevoice.in / January 24th, 2021