Hi I’m Samer Kaur and this is my story of how I started from scratch with just my parent’s support and sacrifices. My parents always wanted me to be in the music. My mother, Mrs Sukhvinder Kaur wanted me to be a music educator whereas my father, Mr Gurdeep Singh Bhatti wanted me to be a professional singer. My mother was my first teacher, she taught me how to play Sargam on Harmonium and also built confidence in me on stage she always encouraged me to do Gurbani Kirtan in Gurudwara in but me being a rebellious and naughty child, every time I had to go and sing I prefer somewhere hiding in the corner and find ways not to sing. My father has always been my support system who was there with me through my thick and thin.
My formal education of singing started when I was in sixth grade. I started taking training from Gandharva Mahavidyalya, Delhi and from there I completed my Visharad in music.
Though I was not from an elite family my parents never said no to me for anything whether it’s an expensive phone or any other luxury, they didn’t even pressurize me for my studies. The only expectation they had from me was to focus on music. My parents were dedicated more than I ever was.my father used to take me for my music classes to Gandharva thrice a week leaving all his work.
My first Guru Sujit Kumar Ojha ji at Ghandarva taught me to sing the primary basic of music and Mr. Birjeet Singh my school teacher gave me the exposure and confidence to perform on stage. I was a very insecure child being a fat kid and constantly bullied for my weight I never believed in myself that I can ever be able to sing solo on stage but my teachers believed in me and built that confidence in me.
After I passed my 10th board I lost all my baby fat weight from direct 85 to 58 Kgs and now I was a confident person it was not because of I looked good but because my parents, teachers, my brother Simarjeet Singh and everyone believed in me.
In 11th grade I participated in a Gurbani Kirtan based reality show i.e. Bhalo Bhalo Re Kirtaniya. This program was organised by renowned Gurbani singer Bhai Davinder Singh Sodhi Ji and with god’s grace I made it to the top 6. I was the topper of my humanities stream in class 12th which I passed in batch of 2010 from G.H.P.S, Hemkunt Colony. I was also titled as my School Queen, MISS GHPS of my batch.
My journey in music took a turning point from there. I scored 86% in 12th class and I was getting admission in all the reputed colleges of Delhi University but focused in music I applied in Music Hons. but didn’t get cleared in the first cut off list for Music Hons. and by the time I got all the results of Music Hons. candidates it was too late to apply anywhere else. I was devastated, I even complained to my father that what was the point of all this hard work which I did and scored good grades if I have to waste a year. I never thought back then that I will take admission in a college where cut off is 60% but I was left with no choice. So, my mother took me to Janki Devi Memorial College to save a year and there I met my present guru DR. Gurinder Harnam Singh. I discussed everything with her and showed her my passion for music. She then guided me and she sent me to her music guru Dr. Ajit Singh Paintal Ji who was the Shahgird of Ustad Amir Khan Sahib and also the P.H.D in Gurmad Sangeet from DU. He was the one who developed my real voice. Before his guidance I was only learning music but now he completely changed my perspective towards music. He was my guru for almost 1.5 years and unfortunately, he passed away after that. Paintal Sir always motivated me that I have to compete with the student of Hons. and being just a B.A. student, I need to work harder than my own capabilities. I have always been a blessed student to have great teachers like him in my life who not only guided me to work hard but also worked hard themselves on me.
After his sad demise I felt like a lost soul, completely direction less but I was very much focused to get enrolled in masters so I requested my teacher DR. Gurinder Harnam Singh. She took a lot of time to take me under her guidance. Gurinder ma’am helped me in developing the stylistic singing of her gharana. Whereas Paintal sir taught me to sing and prepared my voice. I had performed in many state and district level competitions before but the stylistic singing was missing in me until Gurinder ma’am guided me.
She has always been my god her word was enough for me to do anything in singing. I even accompanied her to Egypt through ICCR in 2015. She also took me to perform with her at 350th Prakash Purab of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and other various programmes as well. She also prepared me for my masters in music and I got admission in my dream my dream college Miranda house. My hard work finally paid off and my world started revolving around music. My day used to start with riyaz and end with riyaz. one of my friends introduced me to one of the popular singers of Punjabi industry and I started performing in his band as a backing vocalist. I performed in Lucknow for the first time where he gave me a chance to open for the event. After few months someone told me that Meet Brothers were looking for a female backing vocalist and not even thinking twice, I said yes for the opportunity and I became a band member for Meet Bros and not just a backing vocalist they even gave me a chance to sing in lead at many events. In the meanwhile, I got selected in Awaz Punjab Di, 2015 which was judged by many renowned artists like Hansraj Hans, Guru Randhawa, Badhshah, Master Salim and many more and I was a top finalist at the show. By then I started doing my own individual shows along with meet bros.
In 2017 I wanted to grow ahead and decided to release my own song. My father had connections at T-Series Delhi and I recorded my debut song, my father was the producer and he spent lakhs for this. My family was very supportive of me. At my every show whatever the time would be 3 in night or 3 in afternoon my brother or my father were always there with me. In April 2017, my debut song Parindey got released with Desi Crew. These were the golden years of my life as I was in the limelight and people started recognizing me in the field of music.
I got engaged into music education after the completion of my M.Phil. I got associated with navy children’s school, Delhi and there I got a different kind of experience for organising various events at the school. few of my students even sang in front of president and participated in various navy events in front of naval chief. I was also appreciated by the principal and school management.
That was the time I used to work day and night for my songs, my shows and my day at school. In 2018, two of my new songs got released Cool Jatt and Questions. In the same year, I got an opportunity to sing with Badhshah and Hardy Sandhu in DUI Mahotsav and Lucknow Mahotsav. In 2019, I was awarded as best music educator by IEA, IIT Patna this title I received from Dr. Jaspinder Narula who has been my idol from the start. In the same year I also performed in college JDMC as an exclusive artist which was my dream and they also facilitated me for my achievements.
Presently, I am working as a freelance music educator, providing education to students all around the world. I am also associated with many international schools and do concerts as well. My dream in life is to organise and provide a platform for music enthusiasts and students with the right kind of guidance and exposure. I am working forward to release more songs in future. Lastly, I just wanted to say for all the ambitious people that success does not come in one day so don’t get stuck on to your plans because things usually don’t go according to what we want but as per god’s plan and it is worth doing the hard work.