Since I stayed in a colony where either one was an engineer or a

“Since I stayed in a colony where either one was an engineer or a scientist, everybody thought I would be a scientist. This was the expectation everybody had apart from my parents. Honestly, I, too, wanted to be a scientist. I think it was the way Dad would explain us scientific theories and concepts that made the subject more intriguing.” Thus spoke Shreya Ghoshal, one of the great voices of modern India, whose song transcends borders and generations. In these humble and heartfelt words, she recalls the early currents that shaped her spirit—not yet the rhythm of melody, but the rhythm of curiosity. Her quote speaks to the deep connection between influence and individuality, between the expectations of society and the quiet call of destiny that stirs within each of us.

Born in a world of science and precision, Ghoshal grew up surrounded by the hum of logic and the language of discovery. To her young eyes, the world of scientists and engineers seemed the natural order of life, a noble pursuit carried by those who shaped the future with reason and invention. The air she breathed was filled with equations and experiments, with the belief that greatness lay in understanding how the world worked. Yet even amid this realm of intellect, she felt another current—a subtler force, awakened not by data but by wonder, not by formulas but by story. It was her father, explaining the mysteries of science with awe rather than authority, who unknowingly sowed in her heart the seed of artistry.

For what is science, if not the poetry of the physical world? And what is music, if not the science of emotion? In the way her father explained theories, Ghoshal glimpsed something beyond information—she saw beauty. He transformed facts into living things, revealing that knowledge was not dry but alive, that curiosity was not a duty but a joy. From that spark, the artist was born. It is a lesson as ancient as it is eternal: that inspiration begins not with pressure, but with passion, and that the greatest teachers are those who make us fall in love with learning itself.

The ancients, too, understood this harmony between the worlds of logic and art. Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher and mathematician, discovered that musical harmony could be expressed through numbers—that the beauty of song followed the same laws that guided the stars. In his teachings, the mathematical and the mystical were one, for both sought truth in pattern and proportion. Likewise, Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance master, bridged art and science with equal reverence. His sketches of anatomy were as graceful as his paintings; his machines were drawn with the elegance of a melody. Shreya Ghoshal’s recollection mirrors this same truth: that the boundary between science and art is but an illusion, and that creativity is born where curiosity meets wonder.

Her story also speaks to the weight of expectation, that invisible force pressing upon the shoulders of the young. She was surrounded by voices that told her what she should become—a scientist, an engineer, a mind among minds. Yet it was her parents who freed her from that mold, allowing her to follow her own resonance. How rare and precious are such guides! For many are those who are crushed beneath the shape of what others demand them to be. True wisdom in parenting, as her father showed, is not to dictate the path, but to illuminate it, letting the child walk toward their own light.

And so, from the soil of science, a singer bloomed. The same curiosity that once marveled at atoms and stars found a new universe in melody and rhythm. Her father’s lessons lived on—not in laboratories, but in her art. Each note she sings carries the same spirit of inquiry, the same sense of wonder, that once stirred in her when hearing of distant galaxies or unseen forces. For the pursuit of beauty, whether in physics or in music, is the same pilgrimage of the human soul—the longing to understand, to express, to connect the seen and the unseen.

Let this be the teaching of Shreya Ghoshal’s reflection: never separate knowledge from imagination, nor duty from desire. The expectations of others are like the walls of a colony—familiar, protective, yet confining. Beyond them lies the vast field of one’s own destiny, waiting to be explored. Follow curiosity wherever it leads, and honor the mentors who awaken it with love rather than command. Whether your path leads to the laboratory or the stage, to the equation or the song, let it be chosen freely and followed fully. For every true calling begins not in expectation, but in inspiration—that divine spark passed from one heart to another, from teacher to child, from parent to dreamer.

Thus, Ghoshal’s words endure as a melody of remembrance and wisdom: that greatness does not lie in meeting the world’s expectations, but in discovering the truth that resonates within. Whether through the logic of science or the lyric of art, all who listen to that inner voice walk the same sacred path—the path of wonder, curiosity, and the courage to be one’s truest self.