My mother
sometimes teases me with a dictum: "Always know where you come from. If
you don't, you won't know where you're going." While I have been trying to
figure out where I really come from, most of my life seems to be about where I'm
going. On occasion I visit my childhood and wonder how it is that I have
strayed so far from the culture of my early youth. As a young girl, I spoke
Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi and English, went to "poojas" with my
parents during Diwali. My grandmother, "Dadiji", would put me to
sleep with tales of pranks she played as a child or Shakespeare legends;
'Hamlet' being her favourite, or Akbar and Birbal folklore. But this was a long
time ago and the path I have taken now makes these memories feel distant.
Growing up in a
secular household in Mumbai city among people of many cultures, I have never
been comfortable labelling myself as "Gujrati." In fact, my parents
have encouraged me to subscribe more to Mahatma Gandhi's theory that "No
culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive." My father grew up in a
worldly family, and was exposed to horizons beyond India from an early age. He
has transferred this internationalist upbringing to me, teaching me the value
of looking beyond one society's set of standards. My mother was raised with 5
siblings in a tiny Bombay tenement, and unlike most girls then, was pushed to
focus solely on her studies. In turn, she has provided me with opportunities
she was denied as a child such as playing sports and travelling the world.
Despite their different backgrounds; my parents, together, have encouraged me
to think and live in as many ways as possible.
It is with an
open mind that I have embraced music, which has challenged me to not just
think, but also to feel, and to trust passion. When I was three years old, I
began to play songs by ear on the keypad of my nursery rhyme song book. Seeing
this aptitude, my parents encouraged me to enroll in piano lessons. As a member
of the Choir of my school, I have sung in many styles ranging from gospel to
jazz to old school pop. As a soloist, I have found my voice in genres like rock
, and I find myself improvising on ghazals; a legacy passed on to me by my Mum;
where there are no concepts of "right" and "wrong". Someone
once said, "There are no mistakes in Music."
Music pushes me
to improvise; to stretch what I perceive my boundaries to be; and to be willing
to explore unfamiliar territory while retaining my classical background. This
synthesis has served me well in performing for audiences from all walks of
life. In able to identify with Japanese businessmen, suburbanites, inner-city
children, those versed in Bach and those who've never heard of him; I have
found a sense of direction in my life. By transcending cultures and even
societal boundaries; music has fueled my desire to be an agent of change for a
future, and a better world. I begin now by making a difference on a microscopic
scale- teaching a bilingual third grade class as a substitute, writing articles
and poems for my school magazine as well as national level newspapers,
campaigning and participating in social awareness drives, and communicating
with celebrities on behalf of my society. My voice, however, is in a perpetual
state of growth, and tomorrow it will touch more people.
So in response
to my mother, I believe that where one physically comes from- an accident of
fate, if you will- has little bearing on one's culture. Culture is not simply
hereditary; rather, it is a lifestyle, a way of thought and expression. I am a
thinker, a copywriter, a musician, a poet, a dreamer, an achiever, a traveller,
a laugher, a reformer, a linguist, and a questioner. This is my
"non-exclusive" culture. E.E.Cumings once wrote, "You shall
above all things be glad and young. For if you're young,whatever life you wear,
it will become you; and if you're glad, whatever's living will yourself
become." I take his words to heart in looking back on that abnormally
happy, free-spirited little girl with curly black hair and a mind of her own.
"Aayusha" is the Sanskrit word for "Life" and I don't think
my parents could have better mapped my future. After all, Art and Culture are
lifelong pursuits; both raise more questions than they answer.
