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The only thing I can paint is my eye-liner: Suneeta Rao 

"The only thing I can paint is my eyeliner. That I do better than my sister Aarti," says Suneeta Rao, with a hearty laugh.

This Mumbai-based Indi-pop singer comes from a family of musicians - eldest sister Kalpana Rao Lauper is a jazz singer in Switzerland, sister Aarti Rao Shetty, singer, painter and advertising person, sings with the Jazz Blues Band in Bangalore, and mother Komala Rao is an Indian classical singer. "Even my father, who was a medical surgeon based in Germany, has a great voice," Suneeta adds.
Today, Suneeta's excitement is torn between two passions, one her own and the other that of her sister. This 'Paree' who is on the verge of performing 11-shows all over India is more excited about sister Aarti's exhibition 'Surfaces,' showcasing paintings on glass at the Cymroza Art Gallery between December 19 - 31, 2000.

Turning the arc lights onto her sister, Aarti, Suneeta, is happy acting the prop. "This will be Aarti's first painting exhibition in Mumbai and we are all crossing our fingers for her," says Suneeta. A very pregnant Aarti basks in the warm encouragement provided by her multi-faceted family. "We have almost an abnormal level of affection and enthusiasm for each other. Our whole family is extremely close. I remember when we were young we used to travel from the suburbs to town by car and all five of us used to sing together all the way. Perhaps, a family that sings together, lives happily together," says Aarti smiling affectionately at her younger sibling.

Aarti, passionate about advertising, music, and painting, speaks her mind.

Has your love for music translated into painting?
Music and painting are all part of art; the dividing line is very thin. I have been painting seriously for the last 7 years and had my first exhibition at the end of 1994. I was taking a break from my advertising work at that time. I was a freelance advertising professional in Bangalore producing television commercials and music videos. I decided to take a break and concentrate on painting.

My inspiration came from an artist based in Karnataka, Giridhar Gaud, who uses glass as his canvas. I had no formal education in painting except for the elementary grade drawing exams in school. I did not even know which glass paint to buy but did not want to be another stained glass artist. I wanted my work to be part of wall art. I worked with acrylic paints because I love bright colours.

How did glass become your medium of interest?
My fascination for glass began from childhood. My father, who was practising surgery in Germany, used to bring me art and stationery related gifts. In those days, he used to get me acrylic sheets with special acrylic pens. So, the idea of painting on a translucent or transparent medium, fascinated me even when I was a little girl. Even today, if I am left in a big stationery shop, I can get lost for hours just looking at the paints, medium and paper.

I work on textured glass, enjoying the play of light through its textures. There is always that element of excitement when working on glass, because you are not sure how it will look once light hits it or when you turn it around. Ninety per cent of my work is on plain glass and I paint on the smooth side, but I also do a lot of work on textured glass. The important thing is that my glass painting has to be lit from the front, unlike stained glass which has to be lit from the back.

Does your work have realistic or abstract overtones?
I just play with paints and colours. All my work is abstract, I do use some design motifs, Indian, Chinese or Japanese. I never wanted to be restricted by 4 sides of the frame. So, I have started experimenting with the craft and started working on wood and metal. My work includes lampshades, photoframes, trays and table tops, on works of art that have some utiltiy apart from being decorative.

Who has been your inspiration over the years?
I give my parents 100 per cent credit. My dad used to get us things according to our interests and encourage us. They used to observe our areas of interest and give us tools to exploit them. My mom was a trained classical singer, so there was always music in the house. Apart from her teaching us music she also sent us for singing and dancing classes. We always sang together as a family. Every family has their own set of things that they do together. Music is one of the things that we used to do together.

How similar or different are you siblings?
We are 3 girls and a boy, with 2 years of age difference between each. My brother is an engineer and he is into energy development, advising business houses on alternate and renewable energy. We are all very different from each other as far as our personalities go. Physically, we three sisters look alike and are often mistaken for each other. We have similar interests and values, which comes from our parents.

Personality wise, when we were young, the differences were much clearer. Kalpana, for example, was very reserved and a girl of few words; while at the same time she was very warm and emotional. I had two sides of me: one that loved people, the other, shy. Suneeta was absolutely uninhibited, she did not know how to even spell 'shy' and was forthright and frank. The 3 of us were very volatile, especially during our growing years. All of us are emotional, because both my parents are emotional.

Are your still actively into standard jazz?
I still sing in Bangalore, where I have my own band whose members are professionals in different fields, who come together just for the love of music. For example, the person who plays the rhythm guitar is a corporate bigwig and heads a major section in Hindustan Lever. The drummer has his own manufacturing unit, the lead guitarist is a software engineer, the base guitarist is an electrical engineer and the keyboard player is a doctor. Ninety per cent of our shows are private. We have also done a lot of charity shows because we get together for the love of music.

Now, its Suneeta's turn
She created music sensation in 1991, and had every child, autorickshaw, truck driver and senior denizen sing and dance to her tune - Paree Houn Main. Suneeta Rao, the Queen of Indi-Pop, did not have to scream 'Lend me your ears' - The Indian audiences were all ears for this 'new' music. She thrilled audiences with Dekha, Dekha, the rustic music of Kersaria, Dewangee and the title track of Talaash. Suneeta's music has also made waves in countries like Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and South Africa.

Suneeta goes ga ga over sister Aarti
I am so excited about her glass art exhibition. My sister's creativity was discovered much later. She was judged the most promising student in school -- they obviously saw something in her, which nobody else did.

Aarti seems to have found herself in her paintings and that seems to be occupying a lot of her time. Our family has deveoped a certain synergy with each other. We may not meet for months, but we can just sing together on the same key impromptu. We start and end the song at exactly the same point. We harmonise better together than we would do with other trained singers.

I went around with a begging bowl
As a child, I always grabbed the limelight as I sang with a make-believe mike in hand. If I had not become a singer I definitely would have become an actress, because I am a performance person.

I learnt Carnatic vocal music from P V Shankar and alongside trained in Bharatanatyam and jazz ballet. There were times when I had to go with a begging bowl to people to sponsor my shows. The going was very tough. Many of the shows we do are on shoe-string budgets, yet we have to look glamourous. I began my career with doing voice-overs for commercials of products like Wheel, Thums Up and Rich Cafe. I even acted in plays like Evita, Grease Lightening and Bottoms Up. My first break came only in 1989, when Louis Banks invited me to appear on his nationally televised show 'Pop Time.' Then things eased a little and I released the Hindi pop cassette, 'Suneeta Senorita.'

I compete with myself
Your work has to speak for itself and my competition is myself and the world platform. It is my music that makes me stand apart from the millions of pop singers. From budhas (old people) to bachchas (kids), everybody seems to love my music. Some of my songs like Kesariya, Choti Choti Batein and Paree Houn Main seem to be very popular with little girls.

Within the walls of Hindi or Indi-pop itself, my music is constantly changing. The music definitely will change with the times and according to the producer. It is always a question of improving on what you have done before, experimenting with something new, changing according to the feedback that you receive over the years.

Pop music is about dance
Pop music is as much about dancing as about singing. That is the identity of Pop music right from Janets to Madonnas. Even if you take general music, Rock n' Roll music down the ages, singers are always grooving on stage. Dance and song are so closely related, you cannot really separate the two. People like me, Mehnaz or Anaida, who have got dancing backgrounds, cannot just stand still on stage. If you are a dancer you should dance on stage in tune with your music; if you are not, you can just groove.

Singing is not only about glamour
There are singers who have no formal training and have made it big, while many trained singers have not gone places. Yes, it is a question of how you present yourself, how much stamina and staying power you have. Your classical training can only help you to a certain degree. You cannot be a singer unless you train yourself to a certain degree to develop your strength and versatility.

Interview: Anupama Vinayak