Trust the timings in your life Take a leap of faith

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

i

[Music]

dreaming

[Music]

it is always said that one should dream

big

because until you do you do not realize

your true potential

in my childhood i had also dreamt

of becoming a doctor

yes as a child i was always passionate

about the medical profession

my only aim in life was to become a

doctor like my father

and save lives in fact

i never wanted to be a singer

how then did music become my passion

what was that one moment of realization

or epiphany as we say

which changed my life and made me who i

am today

my mother always tells me an interesting

memory of how i was

first introduced to the world of music i

was just one and a half years old and

playing with my punji my great

grandmother

leela sardesai who was a renowned singer

of a times

while my mother was busy with her daily

riyaz

she was practicing raga purya dhanashri

and i while playing

started imitating her i was singing the

notes of kuriya dhanashri

perfectly in pitch my great grandmother

was ecstatic she immediately told this

to my grandmother

by the way as luck would have it i am

born in a musical family

my grandmother varsham baker is a

classical vocalist

a lyricist writer and a composer my

grandfather anantam baker was

a banker by profession but also plays

good harmonium

my mother mr shruti ambakar who is also

my guru

is a classical vocalist of jaipur atrawi

gharana herself and a celebrated guru

and my father dr samiram baker is a

doctor by profession

but is also a passionate tabla player so

as soon as my great grandmother noticed

my musical talent

my grandmother immediately started my

music lessons

but teaching music to someone

who was too little to know how to read

and write

was indeed a difficult task my

grandmother then came up with an

ingenious method

she started drawing pictures pertaining

to the lyrics of the song

for example if she were to teach me

natsureimura

she would draw a more a peacock on one

page then for the next line dhagan

shivara zunzelari

she would draw dhab or clouds on the

other and so on

so this is how by the time i was three

i could sing and i had memorized

almost 25 to 30 songs

gradually my mother started teaching me

classical music on a regular basis

and i appeared for my first music exam

when i was six

this is how you can say my musical

journey started

i was too young to understand the

meaning

or the depth of music so

thinking of pursuing a career in music

was way beyond my understanding

capacities

now as i mentioned earlier my father is

a doctor by profession

so when i was small i remember i used to

visit hospitals with him

i would see the surgeons in their white

coats and stethoscopes around their

necks

and i would wish to be like them

observing the way the doctors worked for

the society

was so encouraging that i gradually

started developing an interest

in the medical profession and i was a

pretty bright student in school i used

to

love science and i used to love studying

and understanding different subjects

as a result my academic years saw me

studying hard and working towards

achieving my aim of becoming a doctor

and topping my school examinations

while also simultaneously learning and

practicing music

appearing for music exams participating

and winning several inter-school music

competitions

and occasionally recording for albums

films and performing in small music

concerts

i remember in 2007 i was in eighth

standard

and i had participated in a state level

music competition for the very first

time

it had three rounds and all were pretty

difficult it was a tough competition

and i bagged first prize in it the same

year

i stood first in my school examinations

too

that year it was pretty hard for me to

achieve laurels on both the fronts music

and studies

and it was quite stressful and

exhausting too

at that age because

i am the kind of person who never

compromises on one thing to achieve

another

i generally try to give my best and be

only the best in whatever i do so it was

quite stressful

but i feel that sometimes

destiny offers you hardships only to

make you stronger

and i say this because immediately the

following year that is in 2008

a tv channel announced a singing reality

show for kids

it was the first of its kind many of our

relatives and family friends persuaded

me to give it a try

so i decided to and i was pretty sure i

did not want to pursue a career in music

i wanted to become a doctor

so as casually as i could i went for the

auditions

but little did i know

that this would turn out to be

a life-changing decision for me and

would mark the beginning of a whole new

chapter in my life

because ours was the highest rated

television show of the year

with a record-breaking trp it went on

for

eight long months often people would

meet us and tell us that

you know what even streets go silent

when your show airs it was that popular

i received unwavering support from the

entire marathi audience at that time

and endless abundant love was showered

on my music

and before i could realize what was

going on in my life

i was already one of the top five

finalists of the show

luckily considering my good academic

records my school had granted me

permission to miss the lectures for as

long as the show went on

on one condition that i appear for every

exam

so after my show got over and when i

returned to pune after my eight months

long stay in mumbai

i was greeted with two conditions two

options

to either appear for my final exams

which were to start

in just 18 days or if that wasn’t

possible

to repeat the entire year which came as

a huge shock considering my consistent

first ranks until 8th standard

so that was the time i thanked the

destiny for

the perfect experience as well as

confidence it had given me

just the earlier year of managing as

well as exhaling in both

music and studies so without losing any

courage

and of course with the support of my

family i appeared for my examinations

and on the results declaration day i saw

my name

written on the board once again as the

topper of the final exams

i was so happy because i was back to my

old academic love

with a bang and this confidence was

pretty much needed at that time because

the next year was academically very

significant for me

it was my 10th standard the ssc

examinations

and i had planned to dedicate as much

time possible

to my studies but i was unable to

because i was under a contract by the tv

channel

where it was mandatory for me to perform

at different places

in and out of maharashtra and india plus

this time the responsibility was even

bigger because people were looking at me

as a performer and not just a contestant

but fortunately by now i had got enough

practice of switching on and off between

music and studies

so i used to practice as well as study

daily

a bit of extra studies were done during

the exams and a bit extra music was

practiced

before the concerts so this is how i

managed both

on one hand i scored 94 percent in my

ssc examinations

and on the other i performed in about

40 shows at several places throughout

the entire year

the same year marked my debut as a

playback singer

bal gandharva was the first film i sang

for and my first title song for the

serial suasini

also released that year

all this was so overwhelming

that it made it harder for me after my

tenth to take a decision

of whether to choose the science dream

and pursue my dream medical profession

and live a life i had always dreamt of

or choose arts and dedicate myself

entirely to music

at this moment probably it was

my inner voice which made me choose the

musical path

there definitely was a feeling of losing

something

but i was happy that i had found

my ikigai the purpose of my life

that was the moment i realized what i

had been blessed with

and that i would say was actually the

beginning of my musical journey

because it was after this realization

that i understood

what a long way i had to go and i

started taking music

seriously in 2014

my first solo music album diwali deva

got released

during its recording i got to see the

studio life more closely and i felt that

as a singer i must also know what all

goes into the recording mixing and

mastering of a song

so after i completed my graduation in

economics from ferguson college

i did a year and a half long certificate

course in sound engineering from a

renowned institute in mumbai

often people would tell me tula kaiba

but as they say knowledge never goes

waste

what happened is just the earlier year

due to lockdown when all the studios

were shut down i could still record and

mix

n number of songs professionally for

albums as well as

for my own youtube channel from my home

recording setup

so during my sound engineering course

one day director satish rajwadi sir

called me

and offered me a film

he wanted to sign me as the lead actress

for the film

teesaddyakai karte i had

absolutely no prior acting experience

yet i decided to give it a try

because this time i was pretty sure from

my past experiences

that sometimes it takes a wrong turn

to get you to the right place and today

i can proudly say that it was the best

decision of my life

i got to explore a different art form

that is acting

i got to work with a fabulous team i

learned the importance

of team efforts and i learned to share

my success

this advanced had a super head box of

his collection

it’s been four years now since it

released but i still get appreciative

messages for my acting

as well as singing the film has three

female songs all of which are sung by me

and the happiest part about the film is

i got to give playback

to myself moreover i got

almost all the best debut best playback

singer

natural performance and face of the year

awards

for the film for the year 2017.

what more could anyone ask for right

but being a singer i felt it

important to keep the learning process

going

so in order to gain a deeper insight

into music

i decided to appear for my sangeet

visharath exam

after my film and i decided to do my

post graduation in music

and in 2017 i completed my sangeet

vishaaradh

and secured second position in entire

india

and in 2019 i completed my post

graduation in music

and i was the university topper i

received seven prizes in addition to the

gold medal

but most importantly i got to experience

the multiple and diverse dimensions of

music

so during my journey so far i got to

lend my voice

to films like this

ready mix and many more which are yet to

release

i got to sing title songs for super hit

marathi serials like

i could take dildos and many more

all of which received overwhelming

response from the audience

i got to work with great music directors

who enriched me

and helped me grow as a singer as well

as a human being

with every great personality i observed

or interacted with

i learned the importance of humility i

got to learn

what it meant to be true to the art and

most importantly

i learned to completely surrender myself

to music

my concerts abroad taught me the

importance of prioritizing

responsibilities over leisure

like once when i was in australia my

entire team decided to visit the

melbourne stadium

but for me my next day’s concert

was so important that i had to give up

visiting it

a couple of years back i had an early

morning concert at

braham maharashtra mandara convention

usa

but my flight the earlier day got

delayed due to lightening

i did not get a proper sleep and there

was no way

i could crib about the jet lag because i

still had a responsibility to live up to

the expectations of

a full house audience who were eagerly

waiting to listen to me and had bought

tickets for my concert

so it is as they say that it is all

about the journey

where success is just a byproduct

you ought to have good as well as bad

experiences throughout your journey

and every experience counts it teaches

you something so it is not that i did

not have any bad experiences in my

journey

of course i did there were incidences

where people i trusted

turned their backs on me the ones i

called my friends

ditched me gossiped about me and did

everything they could to distract me and

demotivate me

i remember immediately after my reality

show

i and my entire group we were on a tour

abroad

and on reaching there i don’t know what

happened but

everyone teamed up against me

no one talked to me for all the 11 days

that we were on the tour

i was so small that initially i felt

left out and

i cried a lot but then one fine day i

decided

that i will not let my happiness depend

on others

i made new friends there who i am still

in contact with

so today i can surely say that my 26

years old self

thanks my 15 years old self for

choosing arts to pursue music

for standing strong and facing every

situation that came my way

for trusting the process no matter what

and for going with the flow

just the other day a lady called me and

thanked me

because she listened to my songs for all

the 14 days of a quarantine period

and my music helped her heal one of my

dad’s doctor friends once called him and

told him that

a patient during a knee replacement

surgery

requested him to play my songs because

it made him forget his

worries mothers often send me videos of

their cute crying babies

who are listening to my songs instantly

change their expressions and start

smiling

what more could a singer ask for

it was always my dream to save lives

to touch lives and it won’t be wrong

if even today i say that i am on the

right path to fulfill it

it is all about trusting the timings in

your life

and gathering the courage to take a leap

of faith

to see the miracles happening