Sanjay Shah - The man who started it all !!

Went down memory lane yesterday while doing sound for a Karaoke workshop led by Sanjay Sir.

Karaoke workshops, get-togethers, and group performances are hugely popular these days. But when Sanjay Shah (a.k.a. Sanjay Sir) started this over 40 years ago, it was a completely different world. Today, Karaoke tracks are easily available on YouTube, but back then, Sanjay Sir had already built an impressive collection of studio-recorded Karaoke tracks—long before most people even knew what Karaoke was.

He pioneered the Karaoke workshop trend in New Jersey in the early 2000s. Many of us, myself included, first attended these workshops as audience members, then joined as singers, and eventually turned professional. I’d say that 80% of the professional singers in the Tri-State area can trace their roots back to Sanjay Shah’s workshops in some form or another.

My musical journey began with Sanjay Sir and continues with him to this day. I was always a huge fan of his singing—his performances were truly mesmerizing. I joined the workshops just to enjoy hearing him live more often. That’s when I realized how important good sound quality is, so I invested in quality sound equipment and began doing sound for his workshops, and later, for professional events.

During these events, he would encourage me to sing a couple of songs. The positive audience response gave me confidence and made me realize how much I love entertaining people. That sparked my professional journey. I began learning the keyboard so I could accompany myself during Garba events. Later, I picked up DJ skills since we were often missing out on gigs that needed a DJ. Expanding into emceeing and stand-up comedy just felt like a natural next step.

I always say this about Sanjay Sir:

I’ve become a better sound engineer, singer, keyboardist, and overall musician because of him. But more importantly, I’ve become a better person—a better human being—thanks to Sanjay Sir.