Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Fame Abhijeet Ghoshal Says, “If You Think 30 Seconds Can Teach You Music...”

As learning becomes increasingly quick and accessible, singer Abhijeet Ghoshal, known for his journey on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa where he created history with eleven consecutive wins, highlights a growing gap between exposure and understanding.

He shares, "Whenever I go live on Instagram, around 100 people come and ask me, 'Sir, tell us a little bit about riyaaz.' But riyaaz is not something you can do 'a little bit'. Riyaaz is something you do for a lifetime. It is different for every person, depending on their singing, their psyche, their tone and their timbre."

What appears as curiosity, he explains, often comes with the expectation of instant results. "A youngster watches something for 30 seconds and thinks they will understand it in the next 30 seconds. What they do not realise is that behind those 30 seconds, someone has given 30 years of their life."

Recalling the interaction, he adds, "This is a true story. Someone once wrote to me saying, 'Sir, if I could just talk to you for one minute, can I have your phone number?' I asked him what he wanted to talk about in one minute. He said, 'Sir, just explain this taan to me a little bit in one minute.'"

"That is when I asked him what makes you think this taan can be explained in one minute. He said, 'But sir, the video is only 32 seconds long.' So he believed that giving one minute to a 32-second video was already extra time."

For Ghoshal, the issue is not access, but perception. "There is one good thing and one bad thing about Reels. The good thing is that whatever we have learnt over the years, we can show it in a very short time and reach people we may never reach otherwise. But it is only for that brief moment."

Explaining it through a simple analogy, he says, "What you see online is just a small taste. I have given you a piece of Kaju Katli from my sweet shop. If you like it, then you go and buy more, sit with it and enjoy it. Music is like Rabri, it is made very slowly. To introduce someone, you can give just one elaichi dana and say, if you want something richer, go and try that. But if someone eats that and thinks Rabri is the same thing, then that is not right."

For him, digital platforms are only the starting point. "A Reel can bring something to you for a brief moment. It can spark curiosity. But what you do after that is what really matters."

As audiences continue to engage with music in faster ways, he believes the responsibility lies with the listener as well. "The question is not how quickly you can access something, but how deeply you are willing to go. Because that is where the real reward is."

With a career spanning classical depth, Bollywood playback and devotional music, Abhijeet Ghoshal continues to engage newer audiences through his digital presence, while consistently reinforcing that true artistry still demands time, patience and lifelong practice.