When I debuted as a producer
"We have to produce a viral music video illustrating a different way of thinking about cows, bulls and rescue shelters," I said to Abhinav. He laughed and responded "you always have a unique perspective, tell me more."
And so the first baby step began. I knew no one I could reach out to for bringing this idea to reality. But I still pursued - I reached out to artists via emails and social media chats, only to be disappointed. No one saw my message - perhaps it landed on their spam/other folder!
I looked to the universe to give me a signal if this desire was reasonable. "Am I being self-centered?" Because it is not about “what I want”. It is really about advocating and being an ambassador for the welfare of cows & bulls." The idea underwent multiple cycles of churning as I looked to the universe for guidance.
And then, one day something changed. The first clump of yellow butter appeared. A well-renowned music composer in India who also happened to be my senior from high school added me as a contact on LindkedIn. I jumped at this opportunity and immediately messaged him about the idea. Karthikeya loved the idea and immediately agreed to participate.
And then came the first challenge - financial support. There is no way I could ask Abhinav to support this project, especially when he is getting a cow sanctuary setup for rescued cattle in Texas. As I navigated this rather new space, I had to keep in mind that I will have to draw funds from my personal savings. This challenge came with fine-tuning negotiation skills. The team grew with time when Prashant joined to assist with penning the lyrics. Within a matter of few weeks the team had already completed producing the final version of the audio!
Everything was going well, until we hit the next challenge - how are we going to visualize the beautiful lyrics and music? I had some footage of cows from the farms I had visited, but we needed a narrative. While I had a concept and narrative, I still needed help with creating a professional video. To make things more challenging, we had to find a good date to launch the music video. “Could this be during Holi?” I wondered.
We managed to invite someone to collaborate, but unfortunately they were unable to deliver. As time stretched, I continued to question how the project would push forward to completion. Six months passed. I was getting restless with an incomplete project. The cream was half-churned were I could see some clumps of yellow butter, but there was no clear separation of buttermilk and actual butter!
Days passed, and finally I came across the very talented Aurovenkatesh one day on a freelancing website. He loved the idea and immediately got on the project. The process of getting the video together was a breeze with Aurovenkatesh as he skillfully helped visualize my concept. The music video was completed within a week!
The smoothness to the final butter really came through when the song actually “landed”. The song premiered on Sri Krishna Janmasthami, a day celebrating the birth of Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality who has unconditional love for cows & bulls!
As promised, the video went on the YouTube channel for Texas Gaushala. Within a week of going Live, the video received an award at the Mumbai Bollywood International Film Festival. The song has been under review at several other global film festivals and has won a few more awards since its release.
The most fascinating aspect of this entire collaboration is how the timing eventually worked out and how people living in different parts of the world came together to envision and produce a beautiful music video grounded on a common advocacy for loving cattle. We could not have planned a better launch - for the universe was watching upon us and ensuring everything was aligned for success.
I really enjoyed this collaboration and am looking forward to producing more content that advocates for cattle welfare and building beautiful friendships. I hope you enjoy this creation. Please do share within your network and help spread the love! Please let me know in comments what you would like to see me produce on this topic in future.
