Mera bachcha bada hoke doctor ya engineer banega.” If you had a penny for each time an Indian parent has said that over the years, you’d probably be giving the Ambanis and Adanis a run for their money. But you’d struggle to fill a piggy bank if, instead, you were to get a penny for each time a desi parent has said, “Mera bachcha bada hoke indie musician banega.” The reason is that despite the independent music business showing signs of flourishing these days, the career path that an artiste takes remains fraught with uncertainty. And yet, there are lakhs of aspiring musicians who throw caution to the wind. Some of them persevere, while others get disillusioned and quit. It’s that latter group that singer Sahil Dhandhia has a message for in his new single, Chalte jaana hai, the message being — try, try, try again.

It’s part of his upcoming album, named after this first track, and the Mumbaikar tells us that there are manifold problems that indie musicians face. “The first is vagueness,” he says, adding, “What I mean is that there is no clarity on how you should go about things in your career. You might want to sing for Bollywood. You might want to sing jingles. But who do you approach for that, and how do you go about it? There is no clear path for that, unlike in acting, where you get a portfolio done and approach casting agents.”