Jaswinder Dhanansu, a 30 years old lecturer-cum-singer, is living his dream— of singing the language he loves to teach. He has not only come up with an album of his own ‘Pariyan’, he has also written two books, one being a critical appraisal of modern Punjabi poetry and the other is a folklore.

Balancing his time between teaching, writing and singing, Jaswinder says he just likes to teach the language when in the college and sing it when he is at home.

“Ever since I became interested in music, singing has become my life and teaching has only helped me understand the depth of the language.”  Working as a lecturer for the past five years at the SCD Government College for Boys, Jaswinder started his singing journey much before he decided on his career.

“I was in the seventh grade when I first sang at a public event and it was an enriching experience. Gradually, I developed a taste in singing and started singing more often. Later on, I decided to study Punjabi and this helped me understand the Punjabi literature well,” he charts out his journey.

“And what started as a hobby during my school days has now developed into a passion,” he beams. Jaswinder is not in favour of a particular kind of attire to be a singer. “Singers are usually associated with wearing rings on all fingers, growing long hair and keeping a different kind of a get-up. But I think the style of a good singer is described by his voice rather than his clothes or apparel.”

Jaswinder adds that he sometimes feels disappointed by what he terms is the dilution creeping into the standards of singing in Punjabi language.

“Many of the singers are trying to reach out to the people only on the basis of money they can pump into the market to bring out an album or two sans talent. The real artist gets lost in the visits to music companies.”