In love with the rhythm of east

When the whole world around her was staring at West, she turned her eyes towards East. Meet Noor Azeemi, who not just fell in love with Indian classical music, but also mastered it, thanks to her dedication.It was not a cakewalk for this native woman to enter into the world of Indian classical music when the whole world pushed her towards Western and Arabic genre.But her keen interest and determination towards the Eastern genre changed her course of path. Now she has specialisation in Bharatanatyam, vocal and violin. Moreover, she is also a sound therapist.Azeemi started her voyage in the sea of Indian classical genre in 2008 while still a student of western classical music.She was already inclined towards the East as she had been listening Indian remix songs. At the same time, she saw an advertisement in a local newspaper about a musical show by her former teacher, Archana Krishnakumar.She attended the live music concert on the scheduled day. The Carnatic tunes of violin deeply touched her and at the auditorium itself, she made up her mind to learn it. While having a conversation with the teacher, Azeemi expressed her willingness to learn Eastern music.Though Krishnakumar had never taught any Bahraini till then, she agreed to take Azeemi as her student seeing the spark of passion in her.For almost a year and a half, Azeemi continued her practice under Krishnakumar and gained command over violin and vocal.Her next stop was Indian Institute of Performing Arts (IIPA), where she pursued her studies.A teacher, J. Kumar, taught her violin and vocal, while she studied Indian classical dance under Shobha.IIPA helped her specialize in violin and vocal, opined Azeemi.Moreover, the support extended by Amrit, the supervisor of IIPA, has been amazing, she said. “I felt IIPA like a home. When I enter the institute, I experience peace of mind. It rarely happens anywhere else,” Azeemi said.As she is a specialist in sound therapy, Carnatic music helped hone her skills in sound therapy, Azeemi said, adding that she has already been to India to learn more on sound therapy.She also hosted workshops on sound therapy in India. She is planning to hold another workshop on the same topic next November. Azeemi is not content with the knowledge she has gained so far in Eastern music genre. Her next step is to specialise in Carnatic music and understand the essence of this genre at a deeper level.In the meantime, she hopes to blend Carnatic music with other genres to create fusion.“It had been a challenge to learn something, which is not at all related to my culture. Still, I was successful. But I have a long way to go in this world of music,” she signed off.