Medha Sahi on the Power of Singing Together
In this episode of Be All You Can, singer and founder of The Strangers' Choir, Medha Sahi, shares her deeply personal journey with music.
From facing rejection and self-doubt to building a thriving community of singers, Medha talks about what it really takes to pursue your passion. She reflects on the power of perseverance, the joy of collective singing, and how music can bring strangers together.
Tune in for an honest and inspiring conversation about finding your voice and the courage to keep using it.
- Other episodes
- Transcript
Off the grid: Travel, terrain and truths ft. Zurvan Marolia
Mar 31, 2026 Aishwarya Sridhar on Wildlife Conservation and Personal Growth
Mar 26, 2026 Arthur Mamou-Mani on Sustainable Architecture and Innovation
Mar 11, 2026 Bittu Sahgal on purpose, planet, and persistence
Feb 20, 2026 Liza Goldberg on climate purpose, NASA innovation, and leadership for business growth
Feb 9, 20260:02: I didn't get into a single group, and I imagine coming from here being like, oh yeah, I'm
0:07: the best singer on the cloud, I'm the best, you know, that thing.
0:10: And then going to a place where everybody can sing and everybody can play an instrument.
0:14: The group dynamic always surprised me.
0:16: How quickly people go from sitting next to each other on their phones and not saying
0:20: anything to making jokes.
0:24: What happens when you bring together 50 people from diverse backgrounds across different ages
0:29: with varying singing skills? you get the Strangers Choir.
0:34: You may have seen their reels making the rounds on social media, a phenomenon that has taken
0:39: the nation by storm.
0:41: Welcome listeners to Be All You Can.
0:43: I am Jillian from Corporate P&A, your host for today, and I am super excited to introduce
0:49: to you, our guest today, Medha Sahi, the founder of the Strangers Choir.
0:54: Welcome, Medha, to Be All You Can.
0:56: Hi, thank you for having me.
0:58: I'm so happy to be a part of this.
1:01: So Medha, let's dive right in.
1:03: You've been a singer all your life.
1:05: Can you take us back to where your journey really began?
1:08: Where did that passion for music stem from?
1:12: I grew up in an extremely musical family, what some might call too musical, like there
1:18: are no family gatherings without somebody breaking out into song, and then somebody getting
1:23: annoyed because they didn't get enough time on the mic and, you know, things like that.
1:27: So I was trained in Hindustani classical from a very young age, but we moved a lot.
1:31: So it was never formal enough to really qualify as being like, I'm a Hindustani classical
1:36: singer. Because of that, there was always this undercurrent of music in my life, both
1:43: in school, and out of school and in the family.
1:46: And it was a very, very musically enriched life for the first at least 15, 16 years
1:51: involuntarily, because my parents were sort of responsible for that.
1:53: And then when I went to college, I sort of chose that life as well.
1:57: So, yeah, that's, that's really something. I think everyone's curious about how did
2:02: the unique idea of the Strangers Choir come to you?
2:05: So it's not I will never take credit for this idea, because pop-up choirs have existed
2:11: for so many years.
2:13: It is it's actually when I did some research into it; they have existed for, I think, almost
2:18: a decade, right, where people get together, and then they sing.
2:21: But I know that they gained popularity when this beautiful, collectible Gaya music,
2:25: OK, there's a collective in New York City that was that actually started in New York
2:28: City, but now they do it all over America, called the Gaya Music Collective.
2:33: So those videos started making the rounds.
2:35: And I saw that, and I was like, I want to be a part of it so badly.
2:39: Like, I want to be in that room with that energy so badly.
2:43: And so I looked for a little while. I'm based in Goa, which is a very choir-heavy place
2:48: to be in all of India.
2:49: I think, you know, I think this might be the place that has the most like choral music
2:53: happening. But it was all very formal, and it was all very, there was a bit of a gap,
2:59: right? It was not as accessible as I would have liked it to be.
3:02: The rehearsals were happening twice a week, very far away, and things like that.
3:06: And so I said, OK, you know what?
3:07: I have been a teacher for such a long time; I don't need to do it.
3:11: So then I sent a message on this art group that I'm a part of.
3:15: And I said, hey, anybody want to do this with me?
3:19: They don't know who I am.
3:20: They have no idea of my musical training.
3:22: No certificate, no nothing.
3:23: And they were like, OK, cool, we'll go because, you know what, whatever, who's got to?
3:27: I mean, you know, let's waste a Sunday, you know, why not with music?
3:31: And it turned out to be one of the most beautiful things.
3:34: Like I know that we've come such a long way from that in terms of number, in terms of
3:40: size, in terms of song choice; in terms of, like, in like, in terms of how confident I feel.
3:44: But that first session, it really has a special place in my heart because I sort of had
3:50: this feeling of, oh, this is going to work.
3:51: Like this is going to be fun for me, you know, like this is going to give me what I
3:55: needed and also give a lot of people what they need, you know, this way to like connect
4:01: with people over an activity, right?
4:03: And you're building something together, and then it comes together.
4:05: And that the euphoria of that, being able to create that that, was then, you know,
4:09: it just sort of snowballed into this huge thing. Now that you're saying, oh, my God,
4:13: doing the rounds and all is making me conscious, but you know, yeah, but that, that's
4:18: how it started.
4:19: So why strangers?
4:21: What does the word mean to you in the context of this choir?
4:24: I mean, there's people, literally strangers, so many people, especially in the first one.
4:28: They all came alone.
4:29: Nobody came with a friend.
4:30: Like they're like maybe a couple of people who came with their partners or their like
4:34: buddies or whatever.
4:35: But most people just showed up by themselves, willing to be vulnerable, right?
4:40: Singing is a very, very vulnerable art, more so than than playing an instrument,
4:44: because when you have an instrument, you have this little thing to hide behind, right?
4:49: Oh, yeah, I play guitar.
4:50: The guitar is really not good.
4:51: Or you're on a keyboard not working, you know, that sort of thing.
4:54: But your voice lives in you.
4:56: Yeah.
4:56: And it's such a vulnerable part of yourself to expose to literal strangers, right?
5:00: They're actually just strangers, right?
5:02: And then to come together, so then I just called it that.
5:04: It was a whim, and then it became a name, and I think it communicates the message really
5:11: well.
5:11: Yeah, you've toured across the country as one of the leads in Beauty and the Beast, a
5:17: true bucket list project for so many.
5:20: And you've also been a part of the Vasa Jazz Ensemble in New York for three years.
5:25: How did those experiences shape you, and how does the music industry abroad
compare with
5:31: India?
5:32: So I was never a part of the music industry in, I mean, outside of India, I was in
5:37: college. I went to college at Vasa College, which is this place in upstate New York.
5:42: It's a very prestigious and hard-to-get-into type of college.
5:46: And I was a very studious, I continue to be a very studious sort of person.
5:50: I went there with the intention of studying theatre and English or something like that.
5:55: I thought that was my subject.
5:58: And then when I was there, I discovered that they, like all colleges across the world,
6:03: sort of have this academic part of your life, right?
6:05: You have academia, and then the student-run, student-led arts are very encouraged in that
6:13: place specifically.
6:14: And so I had the opportunity to do this jazz ensemble, and it was open to audition for
6:20: non-music curriculum students as well.
6:22: And music was one of the subjects you could have taken.
6:24: And they said anybody can audition.
6:26: And so then I auditioned my first year; I did not get in.
6:28: I didn't get into a single group.
6:30: And I imagine like coming from here being like, oh yeah, I'm the best singer on the
6:33: cloud. I'm the best, you know, that, that thing.
6:36: And then going to a place where everybody can sing and everybody can play an instrument
6:39: and everybody can play a sport, and everybody's good at studying, like that was a real shock.
6:44: For me to be like, whoa, you know, like very like small fish in a big pond suddenly, you
6:49: know. And so the second year I was like, no, this is something I really want to do.
6:53: So I practised and I asked for help and all of that stuff.
6:55: And I studied to be a part of that.
6:58: And then they didn't kick me out, which was very nice of them until I graduated.
7:01: So I stayed with them.
7:03: That was like a crash course in being a performer, right?
7:09: Because it was a 40-piece band and there were three singers and the singers would only
7:15: sing solos.
7:16: It was not a group singing or anything.
7:19: Imagine 40 instruments and you somehow have to stick out in that environment.
7:25: It really teaches you a lot.
7:26: Also, it teaches you that musicians have their own language, and musicians sort of like
7:31: you really want to be a part of it as a singer.
7:34: You should learn.
7:35: You should learn an instrument.
7:36: You should learn to understand what they are trying to say and then be a part of it.
7:41: So that was an amazing thing where I was just like, because it was not a class and because
7:45: it was directly a performance-led thing, you know; you have to do the whole thing.
7:48: We are learning on the job.
7:50: So, you know, OK, I know how to do it.
7:51: And then go and like put the Google stuff.
7:53: That was like my my like modus operandi.
7:58: Just because you have to.
7:59: There's no other way. Beauty and the Beast, on the other hand, was like that was something
8:03: that I was like, I want because I have been a Disney child my whole life.
8:07: I continue to be one of those people who's like, no, Disney movies are nice.
8:10: And of course, that was also a random audition where I saw one poster where I used to
8:14: work. I used to work at this place called the True School of Music.
8:17: I was a vocal faculty there.
8:18: And I saw one small purple colour poster, and they said, oh, auditions are open.
8:22: And I said, OK, cool.
8:23: You know what's the harm in auditioning?
8:25: And it was like this band auditorium.
8:27: And it was such a strange experience.
8:29: I was like, my first professional audition as a musician, right, because it was outside
8:33: of this very sheltered college life, right, where you're where you're a student and
8:37: people know that. But this was like amongst professionals.
8:41: And it was such a weird experience because it's a stage which I was very familiar with
8:45: being a theatre kid at school and everything.
8:46: It was a stage, and there's nobody in the audience, but all the lights are on and
8:50: there's three people just sitting, and you can like hear them, but you can't see them
8:53: and you just do your best.
8:56: And then they called me back, and I was so very convinced that I'm going to get
9:00: Bell's role.I'm going to be like, wow, that did not happen.
9:05: Owing probably to this goofy, goofy personality, goofy role, which turned out to
9:11: be such a blessing because, man, the people who played the lead, they worked so hard.
9:17: I am I was honoured to be a part of that cast because I saw what real actors and real
9:22: musicians and real like what what are they doing to get so good at their craft?
9:27: And so being around that was incredible.
9:29: But I also learned everything I know about vocal teaching from that experience because
9:33: we had Susanne de Mello.
9:35: She is a Bollywood singer.
9:36: She's the one who does all the English parts of all the Bollywood songs that you know,
9:40: but you don't know it.And they got her as the vocal coach.
9:43: And she taught me everything I know about teaching music and about the voice as an
9:50: instrument. I still use the exercises that she has taught us.
9:54: And I've actually I've told her that like I would not be half the singer I am without.
9:58: So then I got to that.
10:00: So two widely different experiences, but equal in learning and equal in profundity, if
10:06: that's the word, I don't know, profoundness.
10:10: It sounds like so much fun.
10:12: It was so much fun.
10:13: It was so much a six months like a cast.
10:16: It is. It's just amazing.
10:18: It's just amazing.Plus being a Disney musical, come on.
10:20: Yeah, I know.
10:21: The stuff of dreams.
10:23: Yeah. So when I first came across the Strangers Choir on Instagram, I didn't think
10:29: there was they were strangers.
10:30: They sounded lovely.
10:32: I wanted to sign up immediately.
10:34: So what do you think sets this apart from other singing or improv groups?
10:40: So, I mean, I'll only speak for myself because I can't speak as someone who has
10:45: attended something. I think the thing that is the most different is that I don't
10:50: consider myself a musician.
10:52: I consider myself a teacher.
10:53: First, I have always been a teacher.
10:55: Like since I got out of college, I have been in the education.
10:58: My family is in there.
10:59: My mother was a school principal.
11:00: My like I I come from a very long line of educators.
11:04: And I think there is where the difference lies.
11:07: Right. It's not a musician talking to non-musician.
11:10: Right. It's a teacher talking to people who are eager to learn.
11:14: So I think the translation of complicated musical things is much easier for me
11:20: because I have the background to back simplifying things like breaking things
11:26: down in a way that is digestible for even inexperienced singers.
11:30: I think what that does is that allows for a level of complexity to be reached,
11:34: even with people who have no experience.
11:36: I think that is the biggest difference.
11:38: And I say this in all my choirs that I've been a teacher for the last 15 years.
11:42: I'm not afraid to scold anybody.
11:46: Like I will scold people and make them feel like they're in school.
11:50: Because if you're going to take a hundred people and you're going to teach them
11:53: entirely a new piece, you've got to have some sort of like like I've
11:57: I've shouted at all people.
11:59: I've shouted at children.
12:00: I've shouted at people who are my age.
12:02: It's just a part of the thing.
12:03: And I like it because I feel like it makes a common enemy.
12:07: You know, then the group they can like with random people,
12:10: they can bond over the fact that they got scolded.
12:12: Which I think helps because I don't mind being that.
12:15: I don't mind like having that like that effect on people.
12:18: I don't want to look at this like,
12:19: how does this teacher scold us?
12:21: You know, I do know that in the Gaya Music Collective,
12:24: one of my students actually has attended a few and they are basically sent
12:28: the music earlier and you're expected to sort of already know it
12:32: before you arrive so that it can sound like, wow.
12:34: Right.But in Chainsquare, we don't do that.
12:37: The thing that is unique about us is that you have to walk in
12:39: with a blank slate and then you build everything to it,
12:43: which means the whole song that you're singing in the end
12:46: has only been done in 90 minutes.
12:48: It's only 90 minutes of work.
12:50: That sort of leads to that.
12:51: But because everybody has come, I don't want to say unprepared,
12:54: everybody has come not knowing what they're going to do.
12:57: Everybody learns at the same very, very fast speed, you know?
13:01: Yeah.So with people from such varied walks of life, different ages,
13:05: professions, personalities,
13:07: what do you think they gain most from the Strangers Choir?
13:11: I think there are two really amazing things.
13:14: One is the physical catharsis of being in a group.
13:20: It's a very human experience to be connected by music.
13:24: Right. When you're a spectator at a show, at a concert, you already,
13:29: right, if you make eye contact with someone in the audience
13:31: who is also singing along, there's a concert happening.
13:34: You make these little micro connections.
13:35: So it's that, but amplified because you're suddenly a team.
13:41: Right. You walk in and there are these few activities
13:44: where you still stay as individuals.
13:45: And then you're this thing.
13:47: And the ecstasy of it, the ecstasy of hearing a hundred voices
13:52: that has nothing to do with how good it sounds or how bad it sounds.
13:56: It's just it's just the gift that music gives.
13:59: Right. Is that that feeling? So that's one.
14:02: The second thing is the camaraderie of it.
14:04: The community-ness of it, the non-phoneness of it.
14:08: There's no technology, like there's nothing, right?
14:10: You're with a piece of paper.
14:11: You're using a pen to write things.
14:13: I think it takes you back to a very nostalgic era of your life.
14:18: Whether you're a student, whether you're a professional,
14:21: whether you're an older person, you know, it sort of takes you back
14:23: to this very common sort of childhood experience of being a student
14:27: and creating your school play together or something like that.
14:30: So that is, I think, a really good takeaway.
14:32: And then when you exchange numbers with people, then you're like,
14:36: Oh, can you send me this video?
14:37: And then you make friends and to make friends in today's day and age in person.
14:41: Man, what a gift. It's so good.
14:43: Yeah, I have seen you get emotional in some of your reels.
14:47: Everyone, I cry in each session.
14:51: It's not possible.
14:52: You stand where I'm standing and not cry.
14:55: That will be that will be an achievement.
14:57: It's it's so moving.I can't tell you.
14:59: I always say this in each and every one of my sessions.
15:02: I say there's a million dollars or a million rupees
15:04: or whatever, crores of rupees for my seat in the house,
15:08: because I get to I get to hear everyone together
15:10: and I get to see the expression on people's faces when they're like,
15:14: Oh, we don't think about that, right?
15:18: To be able to bring that to people, that's emotional, man.
15:21: Yeah. So many people love to sing, but they get stage fright singing in public.
15:27: Me, for example.
15:28: How do you create a safe, inclusive space for people
15:31: who may never have sung in a choir before?
15:34: So I've had a few enquiries where people have said,
15:37: Oh, you know, my mom really wants to come and she doesn't want to sing.
15:41: She only wants to watch.
15:43: And I have had to say no to that because there are no spectators.
15:48: There is no audience at all.
15:50: Everybody who is in the room is saying at all times like that.
15:55: Literally not for one second.
15:56: And there is no solo singing.
15:57: Oh, that's something my sister told me to mention very clearly.
16:00: There is no solo singing at all.
16:03: You will sing as a group, as smaller groups or as the whole collective.
16:09: There will never be a point where you are singing by yourself.
16:12: I think that really helps.
16:13: I think the fact that you are always supported by somebody else,
16:18: whether it's me, whether it's your partner, whether it's somebody
16:20: with more experience, always there is somebody to carry
16:23: not only your fear, but also your ability.
16:26: People automatically sing better when they are surrounded by a group.
16:30: No, that works for me.
16:32: Right.
16:33: Yeah, that works for me.
16:34: I think, you know, I think people are so judgemental of their own voices.
16:37: Oh, my God, I sound so bad in recording.
16:39: Oh, my God.
16:39: Because you never hear yourself, right?
16:41: You never hear your own recording back now.
16:43: So in the age of voice notes, you're still getting more familiar
16:45: with your own voice.
16:46: But to be confronted with the unfiltered sound of your own voice
16:50: is jarring for a lot of people.
16:53: But you never hear it.
16:54: You never hear it at all, ever.
16:56: If the group is singing, your mouth is moving,
16:58: voice is coming, no idea where it's coming from,
17:00: which I think works in everybody's favour.
17:03: Yeah.
17:04: Which is why we say beginners are absolutely welcome
17:05: because they don't behave as beginners once the singing actually starts.
17:10: OK, so this idea of bringing together a group of people to sing
17:13: is a very unique one.
17:15: Did you face any challenges while starting
17:18: in trying to get people to accept the idea?
17:20: So I didn't have trouble with people accepting the idea.
17:24: I did have trouble with venues being like, oh, we don't do stuff like this.
17:27: You know, a lot of cold calling of, hello, I'm a person,
17:31: who wants to sing in your art gallery.
17:33: Can we come? I'm so sorry; we don't do that.
17:35: You know, like, so, oh, write to us and reply.
17:38: Like a lot of rejection, where venues were doubtful
17:42: that something like this could either work or not cause a disruption
17:47: or not damage the property or bring a hundred people.
17:50: Nothing's going to happen.
17:51: Oh, in our space, we cannot fit these many people.
17:53: And I was like, don't worry.
17:55: You know, I've got it.
17:56: But I got very, very lucky as well.
17:58: I got very lucky that within my network
18:01: and within their joined networks, people somehow
18:05: we scraped together season one.
18:07: And now that season one is over.
18:09: Now there are venues that are reaching out to singing.
18:10: You want to come and do it, and half this, half this.
18:12: And I'm like, oh me, oh my god.
18:14: Which is very, very nice.
18:16: It's it is a very, very like it makes you feel really good.
18:19: And like supported by the world, you know, when they when they see something
18:22: that that's good; they want to make space for it.
18:26: But yeah, people want to sing.
18:28: There are people who want to turn up the music in their car and sing,
18:30: and they want to sing in the shower.
18:31: Those people will come every time.
18:33: They will find a way to to reach the choir, which is love.
18:38: Through the Strangers Choir,
18:40: you bring together a group of strangers and form a community.
18:44: Have there been moments where the group dynamic has surprised you?
18:47: The group dynamic always surprises me.
18:50: How quickly people go from sitting next to each other on their phone
18:54: and not saying anything to making jokes.
18:57: And like they have their own inside jokes.
18:59: That always this happens that.
19:01: So there's usually a low group, a middle group and a high group.
19:04: And then people will start being like, oh, low group, we're a group.
19:07: We're the best.
19:08: You know, like that sort of camaraderie that occurs just naturally,
19:11: because if you team people up, they're going to get competitive, you know.
19:14: Even though the whole point is that together you are a choir, right?
19:17: You can't do it.
19:18: I mean, I can't survive without the other group.
19:20: But yeah, that's that's a really fun, fun part of being a part of this.
19:25: It has been a great conversation, and we've loved hearing your story,
19:29: but we're not going to let you off that easy.
19:31: Oh, my God. We harmonise together.
19:34: Oh, my God. OK.
19:36: Online with a lag. That's difficult.
19:40: What song would you like to sing?
19:41: So you sing and I will harmonise.
19:43: You will have to OK, OK, cool.
19:46: Listen, baby.
19:48: Oh, no, mountain high.
19:50: Ain't no way you can say no.
19:54: You know what I mean, baby?
19:58: If you need me, call me no matter where you are.
20:02: No matter how far.
20:04: Don't worry, baby.
20:05: Know what? Just call out my name.
20:08: I'll be there in a hurry.
20:11: I don't need to worry.
20:12: Because, baby, there ain't no mountain high enough.
20:18: Ain't no valley low enough.
20:22: Ain't no river wide enough
20:26: to keep me from getting to you.
20:30: Oh, good job.
20:32: I knew there was a reason they made you an interview.
20:36: Thanks for listening to Be All You Can,
20:39: a podcast by Gothrej Enterprises Group.
20:41: Exploring the passion, purpose and dreams of pioneers.
20:46: Stay tuned for more stories that inspire action and impact.