A Letter from Angel at Shanti Bhavan

One of the best paths I have taken in my life!
Who wants to find out?
It’s fine, I’ll give you the answer. The answer is... Joining the MUSIC PROGRAM with BAE (Broadway for Arts and Education).

I remember when I was in third grade, I used to stand and watch people play the piano. I got pretty jealous that they could play, and I couldn't. But then I thought, "Let's give it a try instead of just watching and being jealous of my seniors." So, I went to one of my seniors and asked them to teach me how to play the piano. This senior of mine started taking weekend classes for me. After a year, she graduated from school, so I began learning and playing the piano by myself. In fifth grade, one of my seniors who had graduated returned as a mentor to Shanti Bhavan and started teaching me and one other person piano. The first song I learned was a classical piece about swans, and the other song was "Brother John."

The first time I tried playing the piano, it was crazily exciting. I was so excited that I would always go to the music room and play all kinds of things on the piano. After a few months, one of my teachers introduced me to a music teacher. I started to learn more about how to play the piano.

In sixth grade in 2019, I signed up for music lessons with one of the BAE teachers, Miss Brittany. That's the first time I ever joined BAE. My first experience with BAE was just as amazing.

After COVID came, I started having online classes with a couple of teachers and began learning another instrument: the flute. Learning the flute was awesome.

Whether it was an online class or a direct class with the teacher, I enjoyed both. It was the same fun. I continued learning the piano for a long time, and even today, I am learning how to play melodies on the piano. In eighth grade, I got the opportunity to play the school song for Shanti Bhavan. I thought this was an opportunity to show everyone my talent. However, I got too nervous to play for the entire school, and while playing, I felt like people were laughing at me. After trying a couple of times, I gave up. However, one of the BAE teachers came to me and said that no one is perfect in their entire lives—some people can get something, and some people can't. I was one of those who couldn’t get the school song.

At that point, I made up my mind and told myself that if I couldn't play the school song, I could still play many other songs. So, I started learning many other songs.

After a long time, I played a song for so many people around the world on Christmas. The song's name was "When Christmas Comes to Town." I was really proud of myself because I played the song for two girls who sang along, in front of so many people I didn't even know. After I played, many people congratulated me, and I'm not kidding—even those who made fun of me also came to congratulate me. I was really proud of myself.

Another one of my favorite memories was when Dr. Chris and Miss Brittany were here, and many kids auditioned to join the choir. Miss Brittany and Dr. Chris asked me to audition for the choir, and I said no because I didn't like singing. However, they persuaded me to join. I told them that I would audition but join only the next year. They agreed. The next morning, I was called in—guess what it was about? They put me in the choir and tricked me too much! I fussed and whined the entire day. However, at the end of the day, I wanted them to have a smile on their faces, and I didn't want to make them sad. So, I started going to choir every day, and I am still in the choir. Now, I’m really happy that I was tricked into joining. Joining the choir has helped release a lot of stress and helped me express my emotions.

I am also happy that I was the cause of someone’s happiness. And guess what? I am still part of the choir, which is taking me on another journey.

I thought when I joined piano classes that I would just learn instruments, but now I am learning both instruments and singing in the choir.

Me joining and having classes with BAE is just cool and really amazing, and I have never imagined having such a wonderful musical experience in my life.

I really love writing, and I have written many stories about my life and what happened each year. This year, I guess this will be one of the chapters. When I write about things I love, it is just so amazing in many different ways. I loved the love that was given to me, how people supported me on my never-ending musical journey, and I am just so happy to have wonderful classes with many things I love.

Thanks for reading!

Angel

11th Grader at Shanti Bhavan