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SPREAD DESIGN BY OVIYA SRIHARI
CULTURAL
LEARNING TRADITION Ladue students continue musical traditions of their culture
ABOVE: Sophomore Aditi Navjith performs at a music festival at the Mahatma Gandhi Cultural Center in 2018. Navjith performed at an annual cultural festival organized by her company, Soorya Performing Arts, in St. Louis. “Having that part of my culture made [moving] easier. I was able to stay tethered and not feel like I was losing everything,” Navjith said. (Photo courtesy of Aditi Navjith) RIGHT: Senior Jahnavi Vishnubhotla sits outside while playing her sitar. Vishnubhotla has been playing the instrument for almost six years. “I practice so much that my fingers know what they’re doing already,” Vishnubhotla said. (Photo by Laura Zoeller)
OVIYA SRIHARI features editor
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oft notes ring throughout the temple, curls of incense hang in the air and colorful flowers adorn temple altars, but in this moment, sophomore Aditi Navjith is the center of attention. Sitting cross-legged in traditional attire before her audience, Navjith sings to celebrate the Hindu holiday of Ganesh Chathurthi. This was the last time Navjith would sing at a religious festival before her move from India to the United States in 2017. “My dad talks about [how] when I was little, I showed interest in music, which I think is so cliche,” Navjith said. “He plays four or five instruments and sang. My mom is a dancer who could have become a professional. Arts and culture is important in my family, and it was a choice between music and dance. For me, it was always music.”
ADITI NAVJITH Navjith quickly began training in a variety of musical disciplines, from show choir and piano to Indian carnatic music, a classical music genre specific to South India. However, when Navjith first began carnatic music lessons after moving to St. Louis, it didn’t exactly feel like smooth sailing. “It was really intimidating. I was [singing] with a ton of high schoolers when I was in seventh grade,” Navjith said. “They all knew each other, and I didn’t. I was a tiny seventh grader who just moved from India.” Navjith believes her persistence in the face of moving paid off. Carnatic music is notoriously difficult to master, but it can easily be dismissed by Western audiences unfamiliar with the genre, which Navjith finds frustrating. “If I told someone that I did Indian classical music for this many years, it wouldn’t mean as much as it would to someone who’s Indian,” Navjith said. “I wanted to quit because I didn’t see
the point anymore. Performances didn’t happen as often because we didn’t live in a community of people that appreciated [carnatic music]. I thought it was lame because it was not what my friends who sang here did. They all sang Western music.” At times, Navjith feels alienated as a carnatic singer in a world of Western music, but her mastery of the genre helps keep her grounded in her Indian culture and Hindu faith. Even years after moving from India, the thread of music still traces back up her family tree and gives her a way to connect with her relatives. “My grandparents love that I [sing] and [that] I was able to make them proud,” Navjith said. “It was something that we could bond over, something that we had in common, something that made [us] happy. Since Indian classical music tends to be religious, it reminds me of the temple and being around family and friends.” p
