Nearly four years after releasing her first devotional song devoted to Goddess Radha, IAS officer Rakhee Gupta Bhandari has released her first Punjabi song dedicated to troops and their families.
Following the publication of Main Toh Ratungi Radha Naam on YouTube in October 2020, Bhandari sang two more devotional songs: O Mere Siya Ke Ram, devoted to Lord Ram, and Aiso Mann Hoye, praising Radha and Krishna. While both were highly accepted by the audience, a TV channel released O Mere Siya Ke Ram this year during Ram Navami.
Speaking about her latest Mahiya, which was released at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar on Sunday and recorded by the White Hill Company, the officer stated, “As a Punjab cadre officer, I am thrilled to come out with a Punjabi number. The story of the song revolves around the soldiers stationed at the border and their families. Their families likewise make huge sacrifices. So I attempted to convey that emotion in my song.”
Bhandari, who is not a professional singer, stated that she is now living her dream outside of her job. “Once I became an IAS officer, the working hours got longer and I got busy. I never really could explore my desire to sing. Finally, in 2020 while I was posted at the Punjab Bhawan in New Delhi, I tried singing a devotional song, Main Toh Ratungi Radha Naam, and it got a roaring reception on YouTube. So, in August 2021, in the month of Sawan, I came up with another song,” she said.
Bhandari said singing has been her passion since childhood. “I compartmentalize myself. When I work, I focus on work and when I devote time to singing in my free time, I do justice to that. My husband, Rahul Bhandari, (a 1997 Punjab cadre IAS officer), and both my sons, had been pushing me to come out with a musical number as they have been listening to me sing for years. That motivated me. There is no age to live your dreams.”
She has worked as a joint secretary in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Aside from that, she has worked in other Ministries, including Water Resources, River Development Ganga, Rejuvenation, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Power and Textiles, and as the Director of the National Institute of Fashion Technology.
She has also served as the deputy commissioner of Punjab’s Faridkot district, the main resident commissioner at Punjab Bhawan in New Delhi, and the principal secretary to the Governor of Punjab in Chandigarh, among other positions.
Previously posted as principal secretary, Tourism and Cultural Affairs, the 1997-batch Indian Administrative Service officer is now the Principal Secretary, Food Processing.
