before I get started I want to thank
TEDx Ames for inviting an Indian
classical musician and a metal musician
at this platform Indian music has always
been the savior and of Indian culture in
Enid sound and it’s it’s it’s a huge
honor to be representing a community of
Indian classical musicians at this
platform so thank you so much statics
Ames alright so I’m pretty sure that
everyone in this room at some point in
their lives who wanted to do something
insanely huge insanely big that felt
totally out of your reach and that
that’s something that mostly happens to
us when we are small we want to do
something insane be huge and insane
people can you raise your hands if you
want if you wanted to do something
insanely big with your lives oh that’s
that that’s a lot believe me I was one
of I’m still one of you so what happens
is that when we are small we we only
focus on the possibilities in life when
we are small we are only aware of what
we can do and we tend to ignore all that
stops us when we are small we tend to
imagine and wish for the most bizarre
things in life but as we grow up we tend
to settle for some things that are more
not not as big for example when I was
small I I always wanted a Ferrari but as
you grow up you have to settle for a
wagon or you know so
so why that happens is because as we
grow up the world around you
floods your world with limitations with
facts and with they’ll give you every
possible reason that why you cannot do
something and let me tell you one thing
that I learned from experience I I had
these relatives and these family members
that would always tell me that don’t
have a bizarre dream dream something
more practical
something I’m what they call like they
used to tell me all all that stuff all
that that kind of stuff so over time I
experienced and I have learned that it’s
not the dreams that have to be practical
it’s the journey that has to be
practical so even if you want to achieve
something that’s totally out of your
reach all you have to do is make sure
that the journey to reaching that dream
is practical my father and guru pundit
man who seems he is not only one of the
greatest guitar players and musicians
today but he’s also one of the most
interesting human beings and most
inspiring people I’ve ever met he always
used to say something that I never
really understood the meaning of but
with time I I understood what it really
meant he always used to tell me that
dream and become something bigger than
yourself so now when you’re 11 years old
you don’t understand such deep stuff but
the time as I grew up as I as I applied
with him as I spend more time with him I
realized that what we actually meant was
that whatever fields you choose whatever
you do in life make sure that there is
always a peace for a world in it there’s
always the peace for people in it it
should inspire common goodness and it
should also contribute in your fields
and that’s one of the things that I want
to talk to you about that you may choose
any of the fields that you want but make
sure that
always a piece in it for the people that
helps them that inspires goodness and
that also contributes in your field and
expands the horizons of their even so
with time I am basically an Indian
classical musician but with time I
experienced a cultural shock that was
obviously hearing a lot of metal music a
lot of rock music and so I when I was 15
or 16 years old I started touring with
these bands and I played a lot with
these bands and these different artists
were not in in classical and I realized
that in India are used especially was
not fascinated by Indian instruments or
Indian music and the reason behind that
was a common stereotype that Indian
musicians are very strict and very
narrow-minded and for a lack of a better
word they are not cool so I experienced
that as I traveled with the bands and I
played and I realized that that was
really sad because Indian music is our
song it’s it’s India it’s it’s our
culture you know so we and one common
thing that even if you’re doctors or
engineers you must have noticed that you
all work and whenever you want to
whenever you want an answer not an
escape
you always put on your headphones and
listen to your favorite music I’m sure
all of you do that because Martin always
has all the answers
that you never wish for so as I played
with those bands and I as I went along I
realized that there is a lot of glory
that shouldn’t be brought back to India
music and Indian instruments so for
example like I would go for a soundcheck
with a band and I would be the last one
would be given the time for the
soundcheck and I and during my little
check everything would be rushed and I
would just have like a like few minutes
to set up and to
get ready for the concert whereas the
rock musicians or the guitar players are
the dramas that would be with me would
get ours to do the same and another
thing whenever I used to go for for
practice for band practice when whenever
we would enter a jam space I would be
given the most crappy and amplified in
the room to plug my satire in because I
was a sitar player like I’m not a guitar
player so my requirements are not as
important so I I faced a lot of that and
they came a time where I was like damn I
have to do something I have to have to
change this I have to bring that glory
that thing back to our original
instruments in our music so what I did
was there is a musical form called metal
music which is quite aggressive and
quite outspoken but it’s it’s one of the
most expressive and most spiritual form
of musics as well so there is a band
called Animals As Leaders they are a
band from the US and they are one of the
most technically and melodically
advanced bands that complex music and so
even guitar players have a very hard
time playing those riffs in those songs
on their instruments so what I decided
was that okay if if a guitar player is
not doing that I should do that on a
sitar
so I decided to cover cover some some
bands and some different tunes and so I
started there’s a song called temping
time and I covered that song on a sitar
and before putting the entire video out
on YouTube I released a teaser of that
video a very small teaser of that video
and I send it to all the people that I
admire and look up to and no one got
back to me and the only miracle that
happened was that I got 30 use in 30
days that’s the only thing I I received
when I uploaded the teaser so but to me
that was kind of like 30 people making
time to listen to an Indian instrument
to Indian classical music and that was
the
she went for me so I was quite inspired
by that and as I moved on I still
remember it it was 10th of July 2015 I
release the entire video on YouTube and
within like 10 days it crawls like three
lakh views on YouTube and this time it’s
been a year and you’re almost and have
released like three or four such videos
and they’ve all around a million views
on YouTube so all that happened and
honestly it changed everything about my
life it changed every single thing that
that was about me and so many dreams
came true I am going to be at also voice
when I speak about that so yeah that
happened and incorporate them it got
wireless because in the newspapers it
was one of the biggest visible magazines
in the world like loud white Rolling
Stone said metallization actually got a
very popular and the most special thing
about that was there was a point after
it means the videos never the point
within a month that I started receiving
these random emails from these people
around the world I probably was
a person who stays in you believe me an
email and said that this is just an
example of how huge it impact was of
that he wrote here when he wrote that
he’s a huge fan of haunted rubbish enter
and he is also a very avid listener of
metal music and all his life he wanted
to hear these two genres being combined
together and to hear my music it was a
dream come true for him so those were
the words from a person a random person
and secondly there was this another evil
that I remember because they were there
were ton of emails that I would get
every day like around 20 most every day
from random people so there was this
person who sent me a picture of a sitar
in a very bad hard case and he told me
that he was going to throw throw away
the sitar and he was going to go buy
something else and he told me that after
he saw my video he immediately ordered
their new strings for that sitar and he
sent the set out for repairs and he told
me that oh my god sitar playing just got
cooler so those were his words so to me
that was that was not not at all about
me it was no it was nothing about me it
was just about the instrument about the
culture that we represent that I
represent and about the music that we
play so all this happened and it it has
changed everything for me just three
days ago I was in Nepal I was I was
playing at this music
tango with music festival and I’ve
opened for one of the biggest guitar
players on the planet called plastic
over and after playing we we just hung
out and I went backstage to meeting and
we told me that next time he’s in India
he’s called by a sitar and start playing
a sitar so yeah so all that has happened
and one thing has been very common
through through throughout my journey
it’s it’s been a few a few things that
I’ve learned over time and those few
things I really want to share with you
all the first thing that obviously
everyone wants to be successful in
whatever fields you choose and what iv2
but there are a few things that you
you’ll always have to remember
apart from hard work and time management
and dedication and all that though the
first thing that I want to share is
ambition see a lot of people hate
ambitious people you know why because an
ambitious person always thinks that he
can make a difference I am a super
ambitious person I want to do big things
I want to play stadiums I want to do all
this is a field that is here you can do
a little something things that make you
unique you go to this extreme
[Applause]
we’re anticipating it really what is
that you have to forget all the best all
the best at something
forgive me come come from what you have
but you do not have what you want to
achieve and that you just have to cook
it all the best and focus only on the
possibilities because all the dreams
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause] [Music]