Tejal Sinha
Barkha Sharma is an accomplished designer, classical dancer, and yoga practitioner. Her passion and adventurism led her to become a certified skydiver and study laido (a form of sword fighting), etching calligraphy with a sword, and Tibetan meditation.
As she dons multiple hats, Barkha takes us through her journey, and says, “As an individual with my education abroad and growing up on an artistic diet in India, with classical dance, music, art, architecture, and loving nature, I’ve let these influences create my positive beliefs to reflect in all the work that I put out into the universe.
I’ve let each medium consume me, for it to burn in and bring out my best foot forward creatively with reflection, through various mediums to inspire one’s beautiful soul. My latest being an author of putting my soul’s work in the book, ‘Global Little Yogis’ for children 5 years and their families. Being a mum to my young son Abhinav, also inspired me to reach deep within and gave rise to authoring this book, for an environment-conscious, future generation.”
Ever since her childhood, Barkha has been learning Yoga from various schools and institutes, especially The Yoga Institute in Mumbai. After completing her B.Sc. degree from Purdue University and a marketing program from the Wharton Business School, she also completed an entrepreneurship program at Harvard University.
Having been trained in classical instrumental music, she has also been featured in the music video with world-renowned pianist Richard Clayderman and her husband world santoor maestro Rahul Sharma, which was shot in Paris.On the occasion of Yoga International Day, Barkha performed for ‘Yug O’ Vision’, composed by Rahul Sharma, and sung by Siddharth Basrur, under the guidance of Hansa Yogendra of the oldest Yoga Institute Santacruz, in Asia. It was choreographed by Padmabhushan Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam. ‘Yug O’ Vision’ was presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Belonging to a family of musical legends, Barkha has featured in the album Confluence 2 with her husband, the santoor maestro Rahul Sharma.Not just this, she had also learned the Tanpura from her father-in-law, the legendary musician Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, and accompanies her family on stage worldwide for select concerts. Isn’t that something that we rarely get to see with a married woman? Hailing from a family with a musical background, she suavely relates her love for various art forms, be it fashion, yoga, dance, or adventure. “As an artist, all four mediums are interconnected to each other.
One needs to be focused and work hard toward their chosen medium. ‘Shringaar’ rasa is an essential decorum of an artist, ‘yog’ helps one create with divinity and helps one with clarity of thoughts and emotions, and ensures the output of balance and positivity in dance or fashion designing for me personally. Our travels and adventures influence us to create with dedication, discipline, and corroborate on the fact of one divine world and atomic feelings of ‘Namaste- may the light in you, see the light in me et vice-versa’.
No surprise to the fact that if you’re an artistic person, meditation can help you break through creative blocks. The adroit concurred too as she says, “Meditation is for one’s own well-being and balance. Life today is hectic, especially with the digital hashtag culture causing a plethora of effects the world over. Disconnecting from the overcrowded waves and tuning in with one’s divine waves, astral travelling, and listening to the purest forms of classical music to ignite theta waves, helps one to become powerful, with a joyful spirit.”
Being an avid fashionista, Barkha along with her sister were the first ones to showcase their spiritual short film on menswear at Lakme India Fashion Week. Barkha ‘n’ Sonzal is a fashion label she co-founded with her sister; their designs and brand were the first to be selected to represent India at the prestigious International Woolmark Awards’ in menswear.
They were also the first designers to showcase their spiritual short film on menswear at Lakme India Fashion Week. Filling us in with the concept, she says, “We had conceptualized a fashion film entitled The Buddha’ inspired by David Bowie’s creative eccentricity and music as well as Bodhidharma’s teachings of inner meditation (dhyan) and art of performance (katha). Through our creativity in our men’s collection, we wanted to spread the word about that. ‘We are all Buddha’s.’ There is always a Buddha within all of us!
Give rise to that light over fear, anger, depression, addictions, abuse, and weakness, to emptying the mind and reaching within to the light of oneness, love, inner strength, and ‘nothingness’. We wanted to express Bodhidharma’s messages in a short film through our fashion creations. Our purpose has always been to spread the “vomit” of pure light through creativity.
There’s always this notion that women cannot accomplish their goals once they get married. But that’s not the same in her case. For Barkha, her family has always been supportive in all her endeavors, along with her personal love to utilise her learnings.She gleefully shares, “Being married to santoor maestro Rahul Sharma, is similar to a life of a focused athlete! Immense discipline, dedication, and determination with surrendering to the universe with humility, become a norm in one’s life. Thus this journey helps one to succumb to one’s best internally and externally.”
Talking about her talent, Barkha also adds the feather of being a Kalaripayattu artist from the C.V.N. Kalari on her hat. Putting a spotlight on the martial art form, she says, “Kalaripayattu is the art where one’s body becomes all eyes, with the training of one’s mind, body and spiritual soul. Ancient Martial arts have always taught one to defend oneself, but never initiate an attack.
Martial arts were always for one’s mental calmness, strength, and agility toward life and fitness. Thus, it’s important for one to learn its beautiful teachings of inner strength and imbibe the quality of a genuine samurai or Bodhidharma’s teachings and become a warrior of light and life.”
