“I remember my mother telling me that while I was still in her womb, all she would listen to were ghazals and a lot of Sufi poetry. I believe this is how my love for music was rooted. I was deeply driven by the intensity of classical music and listening to some of the renowned artists like Kailash Kher left a great impact on me.
It all started when I used to sing for my friends and family as a young boy. Looking at them appreciate my talent pushed me to work even harder. I strongly believe that learning is the first step towards reaching one’s goal. So, while I was pursuing my intermediate, I had also decided to learn Hindustani classical music professionally.
Coming from a Sindhi family, art was never on the plate. It was all about business. My father has a business of travels and cargo. I never wanted to dive into that field. After my graduation, I was confused as to which path I should take. My father never believed in the talent I was gifted with until he saw me go live on national television for one of my performances. Later on, I had my first ever on-stage performance in 2015, where I did an opening for Darshan Rawal. Believe me, it was a dream come true.
Along with my love for singing, I always wanted to be a Radio Jockey. Shifting from Gwalior to Ahmedabad, the only hurdle that had come my way was that I did not know how to speak Gujarati. I used to assist a former radio jockey at FM radio-95 for a while. I realized, singing is where my heart lies and it is time for me to take it up seriously. While I was still in Ahmedabad, I was already a performing artist in a famous 4-star hotel. Later, I got invited to a Gujarati show called ‘Unplugged Gujarati’. It was a show where every well-known Gujarati singer was invited. Well, I was the only one who did not know how to speak Gujarati, but I was also the only one who got the opportunity to sing Sufi and Ghazal in Hindi. It was indeed a proud moment for me.
Having the passion to travel and explore new cultures, I visited Hyderabad in 2018. I learned that the live music scene was doing really well and I decided to shift here. Along with working on my live sessions at cafés, I realized, that Hyderabad was missing a part of North Indian food, that was not yet discovered. And that is how I started my restaurant called ‘Jumrani’s Kitchen’ in 2019. It is a kitchen that offers a portion of authentic food from the North. Thanks to pandemic, like most businesses, my business too faced a rough patch. On the brighter side, I learnt to play two more instruments during the lockdown. I am focusing on coming up with my originals. If there is one thing I have learnt so far, it is to respect every artist and never negotiate with them. Art has no codes or formulas. It is a lot more difficult than one can ever imagine. I am glad I have a piece of it.”
