NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon Official Website) When the GRAMMY nominations were announced, a light shined on the untold story of a little-known singer. This is the tale of a woman who scoured the planet in search of soulful music, while climbing the elite ranks of business circles, from blue-chip management firm McKinsey to her own successful company. After years of intense study, she is sharing an ancient song form in service to others. Her name is Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon and her album, Om Namo Narayanaya: Soul Call, is nominated for a GRAMMY (Best Contemporary World
Music Album) alongside musical greats Bela Fleck, Bebel Gilberto, Angelique Kidjo, and Sergio Mendes.
Soul Call is more than music. The songs were composed around a single chant over 6000 years old. She recruited sarodmaestro Tejendra Narayan Majumdar to create arrangements using over 30 instruments played by renowned, master Indian musicians. The chant is believed to form a protective armor around the body.
"The beauty of Chandrika's music comes from her focus on excellence in everything she does," says Soul Call's engineer John Kiehl, of NYC's legendary Soundtrack Studios (Roberta Flack, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey).
Chandrika has come a long way since her arrival in New York 30 years ago. She showed up with 24 dollars, hired by America's most prestigious management consulting firm. With her first paycheck, she went out and bought a Martin Guitar, sleeping on the floor for six months till she could finally afford furniture.
Her career flourished, she was elected a company partner and formed her own company winning many accolades. She traveled from Australia to Amsterdam; from Brazil to Beirut. She sought out local musicians, learning the local language through music. She worked in numbers and strategies; she dreamt in music.
"I woke up one day and realized that, though I had reached many measures of success, I had not connected with my life's purpose," says Chandrika. "It struck me that all of my happiest moments in life go back to music!"
Chandrika has taken her mission one step further. All proceeds from her album are donated to organizations in the fields of community building, arts, and spirituality.
Where now? What next? Chandrika says, "I live by a two-line quotation from a Sufi mystic: 'When I was there, the divine was missing; When I left, the divine took over.' My quest is to lose myself."
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