Bangalore-based, ultra-talented singer-songwriter and committed Gen Z icon, Mary Ann Alexander, is slowly but surely getting her music recognized all over the country and probably overseas as well. The Indian audience is now discovering her freshness and her irresistibly moving lyrics. Mary’s unifying and intimate, powerful, melancholic, sweet, mainstream yet trendy songs are generational anthems about love or modern times.

Mary started singing and occasionally playing the piano at a very young age, tagging along with her father when he went to the studio for his music sessions. This got her closer to what she wanted to do — write and sing songs.

The bespectacled and dusky Mary Ann Alexander recently performed at Vh1 Supersonic in Pune. VERUS FERREIRA met up with the singer who he said is very committed to her music and what she wants to do in her life.

Can you share with us your growing up days, academically, and what you intended to do before taking music? 
I went to Carmel Convent School in Trivandrum, Kerala. I grew up in a very encouraging, artistic household. I had a lot of interest in anything art-related like drawing, dancing, baking, and lots more, but I always knew that singing and making music was within me. Since my family was apprehensive of me following my passion for music, my plan was to become a graphic designer. 

So how did you get into music? 
My dad is a playback singer, and I used to spend a lot of time with him in the studio. I started recording for projects at the age of seven. I also took every opportunity to sing on stage. Besides, I can play a little bit of keys and guitar and produce too. But I mostly ideate and arrange music using layers of my voice.

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Researchers have named a type of burrowing frog Sphaerotheca Bengaluru to highlight the gap in the documentation of amphibians from non-forested areas and the need to restore frog habitats in Bengaluru.

The discovery of the new species in an unexpected location not only indicates that the city is home to other uncatalogued species, but has also come as a warning on the pollution of water bodies.

The frog was found outside normal habitats, in a barren tract of land near Rajankunte where there is no permanent source of water. “This genus of frog is generally located around freshwater areas or in forested landscapes. Water is vital to the completion of their life cycle,” said Dr K. P. Dinesh of the Zoological Survey of India. The presence of the new frog, which has not been found in or around any of the city’s water bodies, suggests that they could have become uninhabitable for the new species. “They are the first to be affected by water pollution and their behaviour tells us about the quality of an ecosystem,” Dr Dinesh added.

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Magadi taluk is just 40 kilometres from Bangalore and is reportedly a place where untouchability is at its peak. In a village in Magadi taluk, there is a tank from which only upper caste people are allowed to take drinking water. Gangamma came to the tank to fetch some water as she could not find any other source of drinking water that day. It was a hot afternoon and to quench the thirst of her family she dared to approach that tank even though she knew that she was not allowed to do so. But as she approached the tank, she was denied access. Infuriated, people began to mock her. The upper caste women verbally abused her, and denied her access to the tank water. Gangamma did not remain quiet and protested. But to her dismay, the villagers and even the Panchayat asked her to pay a fine of Rs 101 as a penalty for trying to take water from the tank meant only for upper caste villagers. What could a poor Dalit woman do? She was completely heartbroken. The next day, April 22, news spread like wildfire that Gangamma was dead! She had taken her own life by consuming poison, leaving behind a letter that said “I QUIT”.

Gangamma’s death proves how society has double standards and the evil of the caste system is so incredibly rampant. A case has been registered with the state human rights commission but officials could not provide the status of the case.

Discriminatory practices are the order of the day. For example, Dalits are served water or any drink in earthen cups while upper caste people are served in steel glasses; village barbers refuse to offer their services to Dalits and so on and so forth. Not many know that such practices attract strict legal consequences. Gangamma’s death is just one among hundreds of such cases in a city like Bangalore. Annually, over 3000 Dalits, i.e., about nine persons per day, are victims of caste atrocities and discrimination.

When will our nation shake away the shackles of social evils such as the caste system?

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