Been brought up in a society where every child was taking up a co-curricular activity that was in accordance with his or her interest, then 4-year-old Gauri Mishra started finding a Piano as her go-to object. Over the past 8 years, she has trained from various Gurus to play the piano more and more melodiously and in different forms like Western, Bollywood, Fusion and Indian Classical. At the age of 9, Gauri broke record of being the Youngest Piano Player in India Book Of Records on 29 August 2015 and gave a solo performance in front of a crowd of thousands of people. She was also certified as The Youngest Indian Classical Piano Player from Children Book of World Records on 14 April 2017 and also got appreciations and blessing from our honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Padma Bhushan Awardee Pt. Debu Chaudhuri was also present in this concert and showered his blessings on Gauri. Gauri is a proud supporter of the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' and all her concerts promote a social objective.

We are keen to know; how did your journey begin?

My journey with piano started before my kindergarten years started. I was in Mumbai when I was 4, and children here in my neighbourhood were involved in a lot of co-curricular activities. Everyone was involved in everything supposedly. Back then, I was involved in swimming, skating, and I even tried Bharatanatyam, but my interest leaned mostly towards Piano when I saw these big musicians like Adnan Sami ji and A.R. Rahman ji, I was very attracted towards Piano because of this. All these gems to the music industry impressed in a way nothing else could. I became very keen to learn this instrument. So, I started my training at the age of 4 in Mumbai.

What were the hardships / hurdles your encountered and the way you overcame in your journey?

My biggest hurdle was the transfer that is I shifted from Mumbai to Gurgaon. It was a whole new world from me in Gurgaon, I had to change different gurus to get the right one. It was a hardship, but it also rewarded me with experience, I got to learn different things from all my gurus. It is rightly said, exploring always gives the best of experience. Many times, I faced health issues right before I had my performance. Once I had to perform at Tata Centre, and I had fever just on that day, but despite of that, my performance went well. Another time, I had an accident while skating, and my knee had got hurt badly in it. I had got hurt on the same knee before also, and this was twice so it was painful for me to even sit and play the piano. Physical illness didn't stop me from giving my best.

Beyond Piano Player

Success is incomplete without its share of failures. How should one overcome them to move on?

I don't usually aim to achieve everything, my main aim is to learn, learn & learn, because the more we learn, the more success we achieve in the field we want to excel. So, my main motto is always to learn, and I have performed in so many concerts and public performances, it gives me satisfaction to keep the public involved in the performance, it also builds a sense of responsibility on me to overcome and excel beyond the performances I've already given. There's a responsibility for coming up the expectations of my well-wishers, family and Gurus.

Who has been your influencer in this journey & how?

My parents, my family and all my well-wishers have been my influencers, especially my Gurus, they have supported me on every step of this journey to go ahead and keep going ahead with motivation and dedication. Their support has been the guiding light for me, without which my career wouldn't have touched great heights.

Which was “that” moment when you considered yourself as “I Am The 1”?

When I was awarded with the letter of appreciation from our Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, I felt elevated to get the appreciation from him. It was a very happy moment, my grandparents were proud, my parents were so happy, Piano is a western instrument and Indian Classical is totally different as its origin is from India and being recognised is like feeling “Yes, I Am The 1.”

Did you get any formal training and how was that journey?

I started there with Mr. Rashmin. When I moved to Gurgaon, I am getting trained by Dr. Aman Bathla (Fastest Pianist of World), I am learning Indian Classical music from Mr. Neel Ranjan Mukherjee who's a great Hawaiian Guitar player and learn from Mr. Ramesh Jain, who gives me a lot of valuable tips. The formal training is awesome for me, I have been learning from different gurus since the beginning, so I get to learn different and unique techniques from all of them. Each of them had faced hurdles, and so I also learn the ways to overcome different hurdles. Every one of them had their own tactics to deal with those hurdles which helped me. I would also thank my school Amity International School, Sector 46, Gurgaon specially my Chairperson (Dr Mrs. Amita Chauhan), Principal (Ms Arti Chopra) and all my teachers for supporting and guiding me.

Could you reflect on the importance of systematic training in Piano?

It's obvious that all fields require systematic training, not just Piano. Each activity has a procedure. In piano, systematic training is very important, it always starts with basics first, just the way it starts in school, we start from letters, then form words, then form sentences, then we read books, learn to write paragraphs. It’s the same with piano, we learn the positions of the keys, where they're placed, like C, D, E and we have sharp and flat notes and many more improvisational techniques. We first learn the different notes and where are they placed, how to write these notes, how to read them and so on.

How can one select an ideal ‘Guru’ for getting formal training for Piano?

It's very difficult to make the decision of an ideal Guru, and it's one of the most important decision for a learner. There are two parts to it, about what you want to achieve whether you want to achieve just the education of the field or you want to learn beyond education. We need to keep other things in mind as well, some gurus are good from the education perspective and some gurus are very interactive and they are good from communication and personality development perspective, how fit the student is to perform in front of the audience, is defined through his/her body language, hand movements and its positioning. Multiple gurus have trained me, which has provided me education of music as well as the personality development part too.

Your piece of advice to parents and new generation especially when some people are sceptical about career in extra curriculum.

Apart from education, students should must take part in any kind of extracurricular activity, as it will enhance their skills and develop their personality, so they should go out and take part in any activity, not just music or Piano. Parent’s involvement is also very necessary. They should understand the needs of their child, and what he/she wants to do apart from studies. They should enjoy and have fun with their children in whatever he/she is interested in. For the next generation, every day the technology is changing, they're learning new things every day, but along with learning these new things, they should carry forward our Indian culture. Even though Piano is a western instrument, but music has no nation, be it English, Korean, Indian, it’s still music. Music has no language, it is the feelings and emotions of a person who can express it at any part of the world.

How can one identify & encourage talent in the family?

Parents must spend time with their child, it's the most important thing and then they'll get to know the interest area of their child and not force him/her into anything. I was made to do multiple activities like swimming, skating, Bharatanatyam, theatre and Piano and that's how I got the idea where my interests are inclining.

Any other thoughts you want to share?

First, I would like to thank Team imd1 for giving me a wonderful platform where I can express my feeling, thoughts and experiences. My biggest inspiration is my mother, whatever I am today, most of its credit goes to my mother. My mother left her job just to spend time with me and shape me into a good musician as well as a good human-being. Apart from music and education, I would like to inspire the young boys/girls of our country. In our country where in some parts birth of a girl child is still considered as a curse, I want all parents to look at their girls with proud. I even feel if few parents get inspired by me and give equal opportunities to their daughters, I will consider it success. My motto in life is “Together we can, and we will win.”