Born out of a desire to see a time in Indian musical expression where it fearlessly tussles to gain higher societal relevance, "Urooj" is the title for Samar Mehdi's debut mini-album. Samar attempts to initiate his role in that by dedicating his debut effort to address the elephant in the room - that which, he believes, every system is designed to distract us from, as he hopes to emphasize on the need for modern music to seek a place beyond "just entertainment". The word, “Urooj” translates to “ascension” and describes the event of rising from obscurity to the prime of individual existence. Putting years of his personal struggle in focus, Samar has directed his debut effort on existentialism - more precisely on the question, “what gives meaning to your life?”. Conceptually, what he hopes through Urooj is that the five tracks on it will be mere reminders of one’s most unfiltered qualities and how they are easily brushed aside by the demands of the world – how de-conditioning your mind and way of life from that which doesn’t come to you naturally but was pushed down on you as necessity is that key to the purest, most uncorrupted self that your heart always seeks. He believes that it starts there and then – the search for meaning – but the first step is to get there, and that in itself can be a life-altering experience. More often than not, beyond that is clarity, or at the very least, perspective. "Is there an alternate way of life?" Written on a one-to-one basis, the mini-album attempts to subtly remind its listeners of the value of balanced individuality – that despite how almost every system is designed to eliminate, make us forget our uniqueness and see our happiness instead in how effectively we can colour inside the lines – there is more to life than that. While you do what you have to do for survival and prolonged financial sustenance, it is all pointless if there is no scope for non-material, independent, free happiness in it. You can have an enriched experience just by switching your 10-year old version on, even if for a few moments on a routine day, even and especially if that version of you does not make provisions for beneficial returns thus eliminating the hard-drilled point for there to be a point behind any of it. Of course, unless tried on one’s own, it is hard to fathom or describe how empowering this can be. Hopefully, something beyond "netflix and chill" - to be irrelevant to your workplace and your social media versions but relevant to your own fulfillment. And this is where Urooj will leave you – right in front of the door that has the big question mark.