Yes!
We know it is a revolution moment for India, but we are glad that this reformation has took place.
Domestic violence, female foeticide, gender inequality, discrimination, male dominance, etc. never allowed women to step out of their shells and accomplish the dreams that they had seen ever in life.
It was long due to re-write the definition of women empowerment in India. And when we were expecting someone to give effect to this amendment, Dr. Jaya Tiwari and her girls band had already decided to initiate change and rewrite the definition.
How did they change the definition of Women Empowerment in India?
The existence of India’s first female band – ‘MZ Female Band’ has given the right definition to women empowerment.
It is a female band whose foundation was laid in the year 2010 by Dr. Jaya Tiwari, a talented and enthusiastic female herself, when she saw that bands were dominated by males only.
She wanted to give a blow to the perception that Indian society has for women and so, she picked up her guitar to lead the female band!
Was it easy for her?
No, not at all. She comes from a family which has a rich academic background. Her father is a great writer himself. But the little girl Jaya, was never interested to be a doctor or an engineer.
She was a pampered child (being the youngest in the family), and nobody stopped her. She was inclined towards music since childhood and pursuing it was a bit tough.
While doing her graduation from Lucknow University, she joined Bhatkhande Music University to do Visharat in classical music (completed in year 2000). After completion her graduation, she did her Masters (2003) and PhD too, in classical music.
What was going in her personal life?
She got married in 2005 to her class 8th friend, simply because she wanted to marry a person who stays as a friend in life. Although, the two of them from different castes, both the families accepted their marriage happily.
He has been the biggest support to her, for he has respected what his wife is doing. In fact, he has suffered losses in business because of her passion but never said a word about it.
In 2007, Dr. Jaya Tiwari, gave birth to a baby boy (fulfilling her in-laws expectations) and an offer from Red FM landed to her. She gave the telephonic interview while feeding her 6 month old baby very comfortably and got selected.
What challenges did she face at Red FM?
As she joined Red FM, things became tough. Once again, the superman of her life, her husband took the lead. He used to bring the baby to Red FM station for feed and stay at home to look after him.
At the same time, the newly wed girl, draping a saree and putting sindoor was perceived as dumb at the radio station. In fact, all married women are looked up with the same notion. But when she prepared content for her first show, everybody was surprised.
How come she land into rock music then?
Dr. Jaya Tiwari gained comprehensive knowledge of music from her classical training only. She understood sur, taal, taane, etc. from classical music only.
In the year 2000, she joined AIR FM rainbow as an RJ and that was an added boost to her taste. The other RJs wondered how she created magic with her voice while on the mic.
At AIR FM rainbow, they used to create songs and jingles. This is where she learned music production and sound mixing. She did a lot of shows and understood the communication that could be done through voice.
But whenever she used to sit, rock music used to echo her mind. She could spend hours sitting all alone composing songs, but in rock music. This gave her the idea of creating a female mission band.
A female mission band?
In the year 2010, Dr. Jaya Tiwari founded MZ Female Band, a female mission band with the aim – ‘Save The Girl Child’. Initially, she tried training kids of orphanage to create a band, but it didn’t work out.
The girls of MZ Band kept on writing songs and saved them for future. They did a lot of shows for free, just to support their idea. At many places, they told that they are a ’manadali’ because people were reluctant to accept a female band.
They didn’t had instruments which are an important part of a band, except for a guitar. The used utensils such as metal spoons, bowls, glasses, plates, okhli, chimta, etc. to give performances.
Later, as they grew they purchased synthesiser and percussions. It is indeed a female mission band, for they never let their main aim – to spread awareness, leave behind at any step.
How it grew so much?
Meri Zindagi band team never kept their dreams low. They practiced in parks in early hours of the morning when people used to go for morning walk. Sometimes, even people sat down to clap for them and sometimes, they were served with tea too.
After the jamming sessions, all members, who were employed or were students used to go for their work and meet again in the evening to continue the practice. Hat has been the mission the female band has been on.
And that’s why band members have been support pillars to Dr. Jaya Tiwari. They never say a ‘no’ to her. True core strength!
How the MZ Female Band caught media attention?
Meri Zindagi female rock band composed songs for Mahila Samakhya, when media discovered a female band with a social cause associated to it. Media recognised them as a great example of ‘women empowerment’ and the band came to limelight.
As they grew more, BBC took their songs for their show – ‘Full on Nikki’. An Australian radio also took their interview. And today we are here telling you about them!
What makes this band so unique?
For all those who are wondering how the band is different, you must know that it is not focussed on providing entertainment. In fact, if anybody asks Dr. Jaya to sing film songs, she refuses the proposal and cancels the performance.
The reason behind this is very subtle. Dr. Jaya Tiwari and her girls never created this band to provide entertainment. They wanted to create social awareness through their songs and motivate the ladies to emerge out as winners.
What makes them different from others is the fact that they sing only their original compositions, which are as many as 70 songs!
Where can we tune in to these songs?
Well, the latest song of Meri Zindagi Female Band - No Sutta, is here for you!
While there are other brilliant songs by these band like ‘Pushpa tera dare hai kya, Pushpa I hate tears’, which motivates the women to fight against domestic violence.
’Dreaming ke pressure cooker ki seeti ko bajne do, mere hauslon ke shank nath ko badhne do’, is another great composition my MZ Female Band. It is all about encouraging girls to dream big and move out of their destined four walls of kitchen. They are meant to do so much more.
In the same league, there is a song to raise awareness on female foeticide. ‘Teri galiyon mein na aayenge kabhi is raat ke baad, maa, meri maa’ goes the song and leaves nearly everyone in tears.
What is their latest song ‘No Sutta’ all about?
All songs created by India’s one and only female rock band has a mission associated with it. Their latest song, No Sutta is a part of the PAN India Anti-Smoking drive, run by Cancer Aid society.
The lyrics of song, which are written by Dr. Jaya Tiwari herself, ‘Sutta maar maar ke, kaleja taar taar hai, gali ke har nukkad pe kyun sutte ka prachaar hai?’ question the teenagers smoking addiction. When they know that it is harmful and it can even cost them their life, why the do so?
This song is going viral over Facebook and YouTube. You can watch the song and realise the big small change this band is making in the world.
What are the rocking girls of MZ band planning for the future?
The anti-smoking awareness drive is a yearlong campaign in which they’ll be touring various colleges and spreading awareness with their song. But this is certainly not where they are going to stop. And the fact, that this band is inspiring more female bands to come up will not stop the process of women empowerment in India.
They have their next song already in the production phase. It is about the racism that girls face when a family comes to see them to be the bride for their son. The song highlights the hypocrisy of ‘gora and kaala’.
The song goes like - ‘hum kaale hai to kya hua dilwale hain, chehre nakli nahin lagane wale hain’ - which is a direct message that this song is going to be viral too!
Dance to this uncommon tunes by visiting their YouTube channel today – MZ Female Band!