It came as a shock to learn of the unfortunate fate of Gina Braganza and I still can't believe she is no more with us. Passionate about music, she provided a platform for independent musicians with live performance venues in Bangalore and more recently, in Pune. No conversation would be complete without her mention in the independent music circuit in B'lore.

Having spoken to her a couple of times in the past over the phone, we met up a fortnight ago at Pune's Symbiosis Institute. Such was her passion for music, that she spearheaded India's first multiple channel internet radio station for international music. Armed with an infectious smile, she chatted about Opus radio and chirpily spoke about her plans to include 100 stations to myopusradio.com and taking the internet radio station abroad.

Having conceptualised it a year ago, she wanted to explore revenue avenues, work in tandem with commercial FM stations and was confident to make internet radio a successful venture in India despite low internet penetration. We discussed the newly set up Opus venue in Pune and her plans to set up more Opus venues across India.

Having transcribed the interview last week, I had mailed her asking for the pictures, and she responded with alacrity. But little did I know, it would be her last mail to me 

An alumnus of the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Gina pursued MBA in marketing and stepped into the advertising world with JWT and moved on to become product manager with 3M. She gave up her management background for her passion for music and set up Trumpit- an events and marketing agency with her husband ten years ago. Under the aegis of Trumpit, they created a platform for music- Opus about six years back in Bangalore.

Due to Gina's constant efforts, Opus was a haven for musicians, both aspirants and established ones, to showcase their talent in different genres of music- jazz, blues, rock, Carnatic and fusion.

Gina, you will be remembered by the musicians you provided an opportunity to perform at Opus. The loss is irreparable  Rest In Peace, Gina.

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