Scholarship-Awardee Berklee Alumna with 12+ Years of Experience and Spotify & Apple Music Artist teaches Western Singing!

Find out more about Akashita

• Tell us more about your subject. How did you develop an interest in this field?

  Music has been the most consistent thread in my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I spent most of my time playing instruments, attending gigs, and making friends with people working in music stores and trying out every single thing they would let me. Through these experiences, I was able to partake in and learn music both formally and informally. I was deeply curious, not just about songs, but about how music actually works. That curiosity naturally grew into discipline, training, and eventually a profession. What started as instinctive joy slowly became structured study, experimentation, and years of practice across instruments and genres. Choosing music as a career didn’t feel like a dramatic decision, it felt inevitable. Over time, my relationship with music matured from performance to understanding, and from understanding to teaching, which now allows me to share both the art and the thinking behind it.

• What or who is the motivation behind you choosing to teach & why?

  In the year 2013, I was doing my undergrad at Symbiosis (SSLA), I had a subject for which I had to do a mandatory internship with an NGO. The first place that came to our college for placements was Make A Difference, and I found the premise very interesting. I got to teach English to at-risk children living in orphanages and juvenile homes, something which really got me questioning the education system, and I decided to become a teacher to work towards improving it in every way I can -- including switching my subject from English to Music in 2017 to meet the rising need for arts education for every child. Almost thirteen years later, I still enjoy showing up to work and doing my job on a day to day basis.

• How does your work help society?

  Music education extends far beyond technical skill. Through teaching, I aim to pass on tools that support emotional regulation, discipline, focus, patience, and empathy -- skills that are increasingly rare yet essential. Many students come to music during periods of uncertainty, stress, or self-doubt, and structured musical learning offers a grounding framework. It teaches delayed gratification, deep listening, collaboration, and self-expression without judgment. I also strongly believe that arts education should not be treated as a luxury. By making music learning accessible, concept-driven, and inclusive, my work contributes to a more balanced form of education -- one that values mental health, creativity, and cognitive development alongside academics. In that sense, teaching music becomes a way of helping people live more attentive, emotionally aware, and resilient lives.

• If you had to think of a role model for your work, who do you think of & why?

  I have several role models. These were teachers of mine who made learning interesting and fun. My history teacher in grade 9, who painted the driest details about battles with detailed and vivid adjectives, made me realize that there can be many fun ways to relay and present information. Similarly, my professors at Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music valued curiosity over perfection and understanding over rote repetition. They created environments where asking “why” mattered as much as playing correctly. These influences shape my teaching philosophy today. I aim to be structured but flexible, rigorous but human. A good teacher, to me, is someone who respects a student’s intelligence, adapts to their learning style, and makes complex ideas feel approachable without diluting their depth.

• Tell us about your hobbies outside teaching.

  My pastime for a few years now has been watching Formula 1. It has replaced everything else I watch on tv (and the off-season is when I catch up on any films or shows). I also really enjoy cooking for myself and my family.

• Do you have an anecdote to tell us about your student or professional life?

  After graduating from college, my bandmates and I ended up living in different cities, and I really began to miss the time we spent making music together. Just like close friendships, finding people you can create music with for hours is rare, and once that shared space disappears, the loss can feel surprisingly heavy. Music started to feel different -- almost empty -- because it’s the people, more than the chords, theory, or time signatures, who give it meaning and energy. Instead of letting that feeling settle in, I decided to change how I engaged with music. I moved from playing acoustic guitar and electric bass to picking up the electric guitar and rethinking my approach to sound and expression.
  
  That experience taught me something important: even when life doesn’t feel good, it can still be meaningful if we stay open to trying new things, learning, and changing. Learning a new instrument became a quiet act of rebuilding -- proof that meaning can shift shape without disappearing. Stepping outside familiar roles is often what restores purpose and creative momentum.