moi muse
Sonam Kalra
Musician
moi muse
Sonam Kalra
Musician
She is an award-winning singer, composer, and creator of The Sufi Gospel Project. A Grammy Recording Academy member and Coke Studio Season 3 artist, she blends music with soul and purpose. Beyond her art, she is an animal lover and activist.
m - How do you view the idea of “evolving” in your field? Can you share a moment or phase in your work that felt particularly transformative or beautiful?
S - We must constantly strive to evolve as individuals. As an artist, it’s easy to fall into a comfort zone or familiar place where you stay because it works. However, that’s dangerous because it can kill creativity. Therefore, you have to push yourself, widen your net, and learn more skills inside and outside of your field. For every learning, every new experience can feed your art and grow your soul.
m - How important is self-expression to you, and can you tell us how it shows in one thing you do at work and in your personal day-to-day style?
S - Self-expression is everything to me. All my artistic work has been an expression of my Self and my beliefs. With the Sufi Gospel Project, my performance project on Partition, as well as my Sufi work that delves into the works of a cross section of various Sufi poets, I have tried to create music that speaks to my truth, my self, and my being.
m -What is that one piece of clothing or accessory that can instantly put you in a cheerful mood?
S - A beautiful piece of jewellery – a necklace, a ring, or beautiful earrings – can instantly lift my mood and elevate my look. I’ve always loved jewellery, and have such special Memories of watching my mother dress up and wear her jewellery so beautifully and elegantly.
Shringaar Rasa. shringaar means, to adorn, embellish. Just as we do in music as well, embellishing notes with small intricacies, like small gems and pearls.
m - What draws you to fine jewelry? How does it bring you joy, and are there any fond memories around jewelry that you cherish to date?
S - For me, every piece of jewelry has a memory attached to it. Jewelry is more than just adornment; it’s a keepsake, a personal memory that you share with the jewelry. Each piece has a story. The necklace I wore at my wedding, which belonged to my mother and grandmother before her, holds a special place in my heart. The pieces of jewelry I wear when I perform, the beautiful maang teeka my sisters gave me when I had my firstborn - Noor, the ring I bought from Sydney after I performed at the Sydney Opera House, and the first earrings that my two girls wore – simple gold studs but so special – all tell a story. Jewellery tells a story of ancestry, of lives lived, of love, of loving, of weaving a connection between generations, and of telling your own story through the jewellery you wear.
m - How do you feel when you wear Moi jewelry?
S - Moi jewellery pieces are a beautiful and delicate balance between tradition and modernity. The designs are nuanced with gentle accents that don’t overpower but beckon in a lovely, feminine manner. The jewellery has a quiet understated elegance to it and that is how I feel when I wear it
Jayati Kaushik
Painter | Printmaker
She is an painter and printmaker, blending self-expression, tradition, and timeless craftsmanship.
