I was born in Patna but my family moved to Delhi when I was four years old. My childhood was spent entirely in Delhi. I did my schooling from St Xavier’s, Delhi, and I was pretty mischievous as a kid. I remember having quite an affinity for the creepy crawlies. I spent a lot of time catching lizards and frogs and slipping them under the pillows of my family members as I loved to scare people and enjoyed seeing them run for their lives.

As a child I despised going to school. I always felt that children should not be subjected to such torture. But I loved sports. I enjoyed swimming and loved playing football and badminton. In fact, I qualified for the quarter-finals of the All India Badminton Championship and also represented Delhi for the A-Division Swimming Championship. Strange though it may seem, I was never really inclined to music in my childhood. I took to playing the guitar only in high school, following in the footsteps of my elder brother who used to play it extremely well. At that time I took it up to impress my peers. But my elder brother was the greatest source of inspiration to me when it came to me taking up music as a career. Another person who has played a significant role in encouraging my music is my father. In fact, it was my father who named our band Indian Ocean.

We always visited Calcutta during our summer vacations. I was completely in awe of this beautiful and charismatic city and enjoyed those innumerable walks down Gariahat, those tram rides and most importantly, gorging on phuchka and playing with my cousins.

My message to all of you is: Always keep an open mind. Do not close your mind to anything in this world. The world has immense possibilities and what you know can never be enough.