SHROTALISTENS.

Badminton was Prateek’s first dream. It gave his life rhythm, discipline and direction—until the pandemic brought everything to a stop. The courts disappeared, the routine faded, and with it went a part of the person he thought he would become.

During those isolated months, an old broken guitar was lying at home. Prateek repaired it himself and began learning through YouTube, one lesson at a time, with no teacher and no roadmap. Music was not a career plan. It was simply somewhere to place what he was feeling—a space where he could breathe when everything else felt too heavy.

The beginning was completely DIY. He recorded vocals inside a closet on an iPhone because it was the quietest place in the house. He taught himself songwriting, performance, production, recording and mixing through mistakes, tutorials and patience, slowly building his setup piece by piece.

When it was time to give the music a name, he chose Shrota—Hindi for listener. The name reflects the kind of artist he wants to be. His songs are not meant to ask people to understand his life; they are meant to help listeners understand something within their own.

What began as survival gradually became purpose. Prateek is now trying to turn music into his full-time life—not because the path is certain, but because he already knows what it feels like to lose one defining passion.

This time, he does not want to walk away.