Childhood and Early Influences
- The speaker grew up in a remote location surrounded by jungles and animals, which fostered a solitary nature from an early age.
- Frequent school changes due to his father's job transfers prevented him from forming close childhood friendships.
- His interest in music began when he saw a child playing the keyboard in his colony and was fascinated by the instrument.
- Despite not having a family background in music, he expressed his desire to learn and pursue it as a hobby.
- His maternal uncle, Mahesh Mama, taught him to play the keyboard by holding his hands and showing him how to play the notes.
Developing Musical Skills
- The speaker started practicing the keyboard during holidays and festivals in Kanha, a restricted area where only tourists are allowed in a safari within a 15-kilometer radius.
- Due to lack of exposure and internet connectivity, he developed his own techniques for playing the keyboard.
- In seventh grade, he discovered proper music techniques from a newly appointed music teacher at his school, which was a mind-blowing experience for him.
- He started playing the keyboard at various events in Mandla, including Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations.
- A friend of his father's suggested that he send him to Jabalpur to learn music, as there were limited opportunities in Mandla.
- He traveled to Jabalpur every Sunday for half-hour music lessons with Rajesh Sir and practiced during the week before returning for the next session.
Photography and Wildlife
- His father had an interest in photography and bought a DSLR camera when the speaker was in the seventh grade.
- He learned about photography by reading the booklet that came with the camera and experimenting with the buttons.
- Living in Kanha gave him a lot of exposure to wildlife, which led to his interest in wildlife photography.
- In the tenth grade, he received a certificate of commendation and was invited to a photography workshop in Bhopal for a photography competition organized by CBSE and NCERT.
College and Beyond
- Despite his diverse interests in music, art, and photography, he didn't consider turning these hobbies into a profession.
- He studied in college and carried a side flute, tripod, and handycam in his bag, using them to shoot two films as fun projects.
- In his final year of college, he got placement offers from three companies and decided to start a company with a friend.
- After graduating from college, he started a website (P) and worked on it full-time for two years (2017-2018), which gained 15,000 monthly users/subscribers and started generating a substantial income.
- In early 2019, he discovered that his server had been hacked, and all user data, including login information and purchases, had been deleted.
- After two years of investing in the app's creation, he decided to take a coding course to enhance his skills.
Opportunity in Filmmaking
- During a trip to Mumbai for a job opportunity, two filmmakers from Hyderabad, Garima and Aman, came to Kanha to shoot a 20-minute documentary for the Kanha Museum.
- His father, who was the coordination officer for the documentary, informed him that the directors were planning to shoot an eight-episode thriller web series in September and October.
- His father casually mentioned to a friend that he plays music, leading to an opportunity to compose music for the web series.
- He left everything behind and spent two months composing music for the web series.
- The producers loved the music and called him to Hyderabad as the music director for the web series.
- Unfortunately, after five days of shooting, the project was discontinued due to unforeseen circumstances.
- His music was still used for a 20-minute edit of the film that was being shot alongside the web series.
