A Voice, A Life, A Story: Ramya Sarma (LGB, 1978) on Her New Book About Asha Bhosle
We recently caught up with Ramya Sarma (LGB, 1978) as she launches her latest book, Asha Bhosle – A Life in Music. The biography captures the extraordinary journey of one of India’s most iconic playback singers, now in her 90s, whose voice has defined generations of Bollywood cinema.
For those unfamiliar, playback singers in Indian films provide the actual vocals for songs that actors lip-sync onscreen. These artists are household names in their own right, and Asha Bhosle stands at the very top, celebrated for her versatility, bold musical choices, and collaborations with artists across the globe. “She’s not just an incredible talent,” Ramya says, “she’s a fascinating human being.”
Writing the book took only a few months. Getting it published? That was an eight-year odyssey.
Despite being no stranger to publishing, Ramya says this project stretched her in unexpected ways. “I learned a lot, not just about Asha, but about myself.” That reflection opened the door to a broader conversation about Ramya’s own life and what led her to writing.
Ramya arrived at Ecolint’s La Grande Boissière campus in Geneva in 1977, at age 16, after her father was posted to CERN. Before that, she had lived in the U.S. and Germany. By the time she returned to India at 11, she had become what’s now known as a “Third Culture Kid”, rooted everywhere and nowhere. “I had this weird accent, part German, part American, and my Indian classmates didn’t know what to make of me,” she recalls. “This led to bullying.”
But walking into Ecolint was like flipping a switch. “Everyone was from somewhere else. It was the first time I felt like I belonged.” The school’s emphasis on curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking was a revelation. After years of rigid academics in Indian schools, Ecolint felt like liberation. “I was finally encouraged to question, to imagine, to write.”
Art had always been central to her life; she was a trained classical Indian dancer, and writing came naturally. But it was an English teacher, Mr. Short, who introduced her to the Occidental classics. “And we’re still in touch to this day.” explains Ramya.
Armed with her International Baccalaureate and a head full of memories of Ecolint, Ramya headed to the U.S. to study genetics. That detour didn’t last long. “It wasn’t me,” she admits. A summer fiction-writing course in New York reignited her passion, and she returned to the U.S. to pursue graduate studies in Linguistics, until an accident cut that path short and forced her return to India. And then it was about writing, writing and more writing, for newspapers, magazines, websites, even fortune cookies!
Though her parents were based in India, re-adapting wasn’t easy. “It was another kind of culture shock,” she says. “I had to relearn everything, how to cross a chaotic street, how to catch a bus, even how to buy food from a roadside vendor.”
She found her footing in journalism, writing for The Times of India, Femina, and other publications. Her love of art remained a constant thread, and her first book, a biography of renowned photographer Raghu Rai, established her as a thoughtful chronicler of artists’ lives. That reputation led to the Asha Bhosle commission.
Writing about Bhosle was a chance to explore something new: the world of film. “I’d never written about cinema before.”
For readers unfamiliar with Asha Bhosle, Ramya’s book offers a front-row seat to the remarkable life and one of the most influential Hindi singers: one shaped by relentless ambition, bold reinvention, and an unshakable love for music.