Dharavi Reloaded’s Dream of Meeting Ed Sheeran Was 10 Years in the Making

If you need to hear a story about the power of manifestation today – if you believe in that sort of thing – then there’s Abhijit Jejurikar’s decade-long wait to have the percussive band Dharavi Reloaded perform with British pop star Ed Sheeran on his recent India visit in March this year.

It was on Sheeran’s debut India performance in 2015 that Jejurikar met the “Shape Of You” hitmaker, building upon a correspondence that had started in 2014 to set up a meeting with Dharavi Reloaded, founded in 2011. “I somehow managed to meet him [Sheeran] thanks to a friend I had called, there were at least 20 girls who were probably 13 or 14 years old who were waiting in line to meet him. When I got my turn, I told him I had introduced the kids to his music and we would love to collaborate with him someday whenever there is a chance, and he said, ‘I’m completely down for it,’” Jejurikar recalls.

It only after his 2024 show was announced that Jejurikar picked back up on the conversation, attributing the impasse down to how he didn’t think to get Sheeran’s manager contact at the time. This time around, however, Dharavi Reloaded had grown in stature for becoming a platform and community project that gave young musicians from Dharavi, Mumbai a chance to get a peek into the world of professional music. At one of the group’s shoots, he overheard video crew talking about an upcoming episode of The Great Indian Kapil Show with actor and comedian Kapil Sharma in conversation with Sheeran. It was to air on Netflix and through another connect, Jejurikar pitched that Dharavi Reloaded get invited on set to perform with Sheeran as part of the show.

A few days before the shoot he got a call asking about Dharavi Reloaded joining the episode and had to scramble to align everything. It was worth it, though, for Jejurikar. He says, “[Sheeran] met everyone he understood how these guys play drums and what they have done. We had a performance and there was no rehearsal at all.”

One of the things apparent from Dharavi Reloaded’s performance on the show as well as their general media presence is that Jejurikar has thought of the brand power behind the music project. Dharavi Reloaded — which was launched in its current iteration in 2016 after breaking away from the non-profit funded dance and music project Dharavi Rocks — is driven by empowerment goals for young children and teens from Mumbai. Behind it is Jejurikar’s marketing and branding mind. After all, he handles Dharavi Reloaded alongside his day job as a marketing professional at Amazon. “I do this on the weekend and whenever I get a chance, I’ve been doing this for almost 10 to 12 years now,” he says.

What started off as a community project to teach music slowly became an in-demand band for performances and collaborations, showing off the beats they can conjure off self-designed wastebin drum barrels. They’ve even jammed with rock veterans like Agnee and Indian Ocean at the erstwhile Blue Frog in Mumbai, plus festival appearances with veterans like multi-instrumentalist Karsh Kale and electronic artist Nucleya. Sometimes joined by guitarists and singers, Jejurikar is also a part of Dharavi Reloaded as a conductor, percussionist and vocalist.

Along the way, they’ve got more than just a name, but also a logo and merchandise to go with it. Now in action for over a decade, Jejurikar also acknowledges that Dharavi Reloaded has made professional musicians out of kids who had no idea that they could make a livelihood from it. Before, the kids would be in it for the experience for traveling in cars and planes or staying in hotels, but Jejurikar says the focus has always been to provide income to everyone who joined Dharavi Reloaded. It does mean that some members are keen to explore more ways to earn and spend money, finding upward mobility and it does take away from the music, but there’s no faulting them for that – Jejurikar says they do offer financial advice and educate members about the importance of having savings.

The older members of Dharavi Reloaded work day jobs, some as delivery agents or in real estate offices, shops and more. “It gives them work-life balance, so it’s a bit good for them also. Some of them seriously want to make it happen in the [music industry]. It needs immense amount of focus, dedication, and a very good, constant mentor in your life,” he says. In the pipeline next for the project is to dive in to different cultures around the world with their music. “The next big project would be to do international collabs and tours, in maybe Dubai or somewhere in the world,” he says.

Since members have come and gone in the last 12 years or so, Jejurikar says the impact of Dharavi Reloaded also becomes larger. He says, “About 60 percent of the band has stayed with me. Most of them have moved and are doing different things. I keep involving new kids as well.” The goal is that members become “community leaders” and set up similar music projects for young kids. “Everyone knows that this can be used as a great tool to make a change in the community and get everyone together,” Jejurikar says.