“Continue to dream, to have a vision, look beyond tomorrow,” says this youth iconOne can easily associate his name to ‘Dream Café’, a place ‘where good things happen’, which true to its catchword has borne many dreams of young music aficionados besides the good times many others were given a choice to have. This fine gentleman needs no introduction for the social circle refuses to keep him out from the entertainment world and yet, he’s much more than the performer that we know him as.
Theja Meru did his early schooling from the Assemblies of God School, Kolkatta, and recalls it as a time when so much was taught to mold their personalities. “They gave so much input into our lives,” he says and considers himself lucky to have studied there when its Founder Mark Buntain was still alive.
When he turned 17, he decided music was his vocation. But although a graduate of Patkai Christian College, the pioneer institution in music, he never had any formal education in music whatsoever. But thanks to his passion and dreams, he has come a long way as a musician.
‘Lystra’ was his first band and he went on to become a part of a Chennai Based Band called “Blood and Fire”. To this end, he says Chuk Eddy of the latter band was his mentor in the real sense. “He taught me how to write songs” he confesses.
And talking about his album ‘Believe’, he says “it is every musician’s dream to have their songs recorded and the best thing to happen to a musician”. For him, it’s also a dream come true and he feels indebted to his producer Kriehu Liezietsu and the others who had faith in him. “Believe” has 10 songs, all of which were written by him except ‘Ashes of the Land’ by Bambi Kevichusa.
On the other hand, he’s been taking keen interest in promoting young Naga artistes. The reason, he says is because there was nobody to guide them during their time as equally with no promoters. “I’m going to live my dreams through them. They have the energy, the time. I want to see my dreams come true, through their lives,” he says.
And when being asked if music, according to him, can be taken as a serious profession in the Nagaland context, he promptly replies “Yes, why not?” and goes on to explain “Music doesn’t necessarily mean singing or playing the guitar. There’s the industry, event management, graphic designing…when you look at all these, there’s a lot of opportunities”.
He also feels that “commitment is there” but dishearteningly says “I don’t think our musicians are willing to go beyond commitment” and while admitting that music is a business, in the end he points out that they have to know how to market themselves. Also emphasising on personalities, presentation, knowing how to speak, etc he laments that “we don’t know how to take all these packages together and make a successful business”.
Alongside, giving his view on unemployment, he says “we are, sometimes our greatest enemies” and the believer that he is, adds “if you really go down to the roots, there are one thousand and one things to do”. “Our youth also have to change directions and their thought patterns,” he expresses. Throwing away even the concept of ‘I have a BA degree and I can’t do this’ but rather turning to self-employment, he feels, will give endless earning opportunities. He strongly believes that “Dignity is not what we do but we give dignity to what we do”.
The mention of Dream Café sets you in a different mood. He never thought in his wildest dreams that he’d be in business. And dwelling on it, he enlightens that it was through his cousin, Bambi Kevichusa that the whole idea was born. Rev. Jeanelee from Singapore, who loves the Nagas, gave it a name and so a dream was born.
The first 3 years of Dream Café was the toughest, he says, primarily because he was never a businessman. Terming that phase as the time he learnt the most, he’s happy not to have given it up through all the hardships, ups and downs and discouragements.
Six years down the line, Dream Café has been a platform for many significant events. Open House which was launched just recently ‘is for everybody as often and as much as they can’, he pronounces. Thursday evenings here will certainly sharpen a musician’s skill, even promote the better ones on a larger scale.
He’s got his hands full presently with many a responsibility, including that of ‘The Heritage’ which was taken up last year “with the primary vision to employ our young people”. He beams as he informs that there are now 15 full time staff out of which 80% are locals. A Tennis Lawn will be completed soon where club members can come and play, he discloses.
Besides, every Season, he plays the role of Judge for Naga Idol, Kids for Fame and the like. The major challenge here, he says, is the resources. “We solely depend on the government but it can’t help everybody,” he states. But even with the limited resources, he feels that these shows are doing really well.
Then, there’s Rattle and Hum registered in 2005 which is a full fledged non-profit organisation formed to promote and acknowledge the creative side of young people and connect them with the world outside. Talking about the Handshake Concert in Mumbai this year, he voiced the desire to take it abroad someday. “These are small steps we take today; we truly want our youth to go international,” he says.
Along this line, his bigger dreams include a Music Library and a Music Museum (Archive). He was delighted to announce that Grammy Award Winner Vishwa Mohan Bhatt has already made a commitment to gift “Mohan Veena”, a hybrid slide guitar developed by him to the Music Archive that has been thought about.
Excitedly, he says “it could become the centre of Music in India”, “today we are talking about nature tourism, tomorrow it could be even Music Tourism” he adds. A seed money through the initiative of Senti Toy has also been received from New York University towards the realisation of this dream.
A man of many skills, it would interest many to learn that he’s an avid painter as well. He does Water Colour Paintings mostly and many of his paintings can be seen in homes far and near. Besides, he has taken up gardening with utmost interest and terms it as a great stress buster.
He also took a one-month art class in Mumbai when he was younger and says that “it really helped me understand little bit how and what art was” to which end, he expresses that “a Shadow is never black”. Those who have followed him will also remember that he had a Painting Art Exhibition sometime in 2002.
To his credit lies many a commendable venture but just to list a few, he was a Recipient of Governor’s Award for excellence in Music in the year 2006, he has performed in China, Cairo, Egypt, also in Alexandria as one of the members of YouthNet, apart from making appearances in many other conventions, trade expos and events across the country.
Looking anything but 39, it’s hard to believe an achiever like him would still insist that he’s not where he wants to be. “Continue to dream, to have a vision, look beyond tomorrow”. There, we have the insight of a Dream Believer who has earned more crowns by believing and thriving. To say the least, he’s a Youth Icon, and is loved by more people than those who’d disagree.
Theja Meru did his early schooling from the Assemblies of God School, Kolkatta, and recalls it as a time when so much was taught to mold their personalities. “They gave so much input into our lives,” he says and considers himself lucky to have studied there when its Founder Mark Buntain was still alive.
When he turned 17, he decided music was his vocation. But although a graduate of Patkai Christian College, the pioneer institution in music, he never had any formal education in music whatsoever. But thanks to his passion and dreams, he has come a long way as a musician.
‘Lystra’ was his first band and he went on to become a part of a Chennai Based Band called “Blood and Fire”. To this end, he says Chuk Eddy of the latter band was his mentor in the real sense. “He taught me how to write songs” he confesses.
And talking about his album ‘Believe’, he says “it is every musician’s dream to have their songs recorded and the best thing to happen to a musician”. For him, it’s also a dream come true and he feels indebted to his producer Kriehu Liezietsu and the others who had faith in him. “Believe” has 10 songs, all of which were written by him except ‘Ashes of the Land’ by Bambi Kevichusa.
On the other hand, he’s been taking keen interest in promoting young Naga artistes. The reason, he says is because there was nobody to guide them during their time as equally with no promoters. “I’m going to live my dreams through them. They have the energy, the time. I want to see my dreams come true, through their lives,” he says.
And when being asked if music, according to him, can be taken as a serious profession in the Nagaland context, he promptly replies “Yes, why not?” and goes on to explain “Music doesn’t necessarily mean singing or playing the guitar. There’s the industry, event management, graphic designing…when you look at all these, there’s a lot of opportunities”.
He also feels that “commitment is there” but dishearteningly says “I don’t think our musicians are willing to go beyond commitment” and while admitting that music is a business, in the end he points out that they have to know how to market themselves. Also emphasising on personalities, presentation, knowing how to speak, etc he laments that “we don’t know how to take all these packages together and make a successful business”.
Alongside, giving his view on unemployment, he says “we are, sometimes our greatest enemies” and the believer that he is, adds “if you really go down to the roots, there are one thousand and one things to do”. “Our youth also have to change directions and their thought patterns,” he expresses. Throwing away even the concept of ‘I have a BA degree and I can’t do this’ but rather turning to self-employment, he feels, will give endless earning opportunities. He strongly believes that “Dignity is not what we do but we give dignity to what we do”.
The mention of Dream Café sets you in a different mood. He never thought in his wildest dreams that he’d be in business. And dwelling on it, he enlightens that it was through his cousin, Bambi Kevichusa that the whole idea was born. Rev. Jeanelee from Singapore, who loves the Nagas, gave it a name and so a dream was born.
The first 3 years of Dream Café was the toughest, he says, primarily because he was never a businessman. Terming that phase as the time he learnt the most, he’s happy not to have given it up through all the hardships, ups and downs and discouragements.
Six years down the line, Dream Café has been a platform for many significant events. Open House which was launched just recently ‘is for everybody as often and as much as they can’, he pronounces. Thursday evenings here will certainly sharpen a musician’s skill, even promote the better ones on a larger scale.
He’s got his hands full presently with many a responsibility, including that of ‘The Heritage’ which was taken up last year “with the primary vision to employ our young people”. He beams as he informs that there are now 15 full time staff out of which 80% are locals. A Tennis Lawn will be completed soon where club members can come and play, he discloses.
Besides, every Season, he plays the role of Judge for Naga Idol, Kids for Fame and the like. The major challenge here, he says, is the resources. “We solely depend on the government but it can’t help everybody,” he states. But even with the limited resources, he feels that these shows are doing really well.
Then, there’s Rattle and Hum registered in 2005 which is a full fledged non-profit organisation formed to promote and acknowledge the creative side of young people and connect them with the world outside. Talking about the Handshake Concert in Mumbai this year, he voiced the desire to take it abroad someday. “These are small steps we take today; we truly want our youth to go international,” he says.
Along this line, his bigger dreams include a Music Library and a Music Museum (Archive). He was delighted to announce that Grammy Award Winner Vishwa Mohan Bhatt has already made a commitment to gift “Mohan Veena”, a hybrid slide guitar developed by him to the Music Archive that has been thought about.
Excitedly, he says “it could become the centre of Music in India”, “today we are talking about nature tourism, tomorrow it could be even Music Tourism” he adds. A seed money through the initiative of Senti Toy has also been received from New York University towards the realisation of this dream.
A man of many skills, it would interest many to learn that he’s an avid painter as well. He does Water Colour Paintings mostly and many of his paintings can be seen in homes far and near. Besides, he has taken up gardening with utmost interest and terms it as a great stress buster.
He also took a one-month art class in Mumbai when he was younger and says that “it really helped me understand little bit how and what art was” to which end, he expresses that “a Shadow is never black”. Those who have followed him will also remember that he had a Painting Art Exhibition sometime in 2002.
To his credit lies many a commendable venture but just to list a few, he was a Recipient of Governor’s Award for excellence in Music in the year 2006, he has performed in China, Cairo, Egypt, also in Alexandria as one of the members of YouthNet, apart from making appearances in many other conventions, trade expos and events across the country.
Looking anything but 39, it’s hard to believe an achiever like him would still insist that he’s not where he wants to be. “Continue to dream, to have a vision, look beyond tomorrow”. There, we have the insight of a Dream Believer who has earned more crowns by believing and thriving. To say the least, he’s a Youth Icon, and is loved by more people than those who’d disagree.
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