Indian strummer

Raghu Dixit is a man of many talents. Trained as an Indian classical dancer, he also holds a master's degree in microbiology from the University of Mysore. But it is his chosen metier as a singer-songwriter that brings him to Hong Kong this week.

Dixit, who performs on Thursday evening at Studio One in Broadcast Drive as part of RTHK's Music Beyond Borders series with the Raghu Dixit Project, was working in Belgium for a pharmaceuticals company when a guest appearance on a radio show changed his life. He sang one of his songs on the air for a Brussels station, which was then deluged with listener inquiries.

The head of the station translated the e-mails she received from listeners saying how much they liked his performance, he recalls.

'She then said: 'Imagine what you can do back in your own country if you can turn on people here who do not understand a word of your language.' One week later I was back in India to become a professional musician.'

Initially, Dixit found it tough. Based in Bangalore, he took a day job at a software company as a technical writer and worked on his music in the evenings. He formed a band called Antaragni, meaning 'The Fire Within'. It became popular and by 2001 he was able to give up technical writing and devote his energies entirely to his music.

'Music is not only a form of catharsis for me but also a spiritual connection with the unseen force that brings me to [be] one with myself. I learned the art of recognising and celebrating this connection through dance,' he says.