By Amit Jethani

Though only  in her twenties, Meena Makhijani is a world-class, all-rounder Sindhi chica. She has studied Bharata Natyam dance as well as drums, piano, violin and drums. She plays the tabla for the Asian Crisis band in America, and has studied under the legendary Zakir Hussain. Born and raised in New York and California where she attended UC Berkeley College, she’s the daughter of Nalini and Suresh Makhijani and has two younger brothers, Vikram and Sanjay. She worked as an engineer in Silicon Valley for a few years before ending  up as a third-year student in medical school in Miami. Meena’s interests lies in music, dance, spending time with family and friends, Sindhi culture, travel, human rights and poverty.

Our music columnist Amit Jethani stepped down from his turntable and headphones long enough to interview Meena Makhijani for readers of Beyond Sindh magazine.

Since I was born, music has been part of my life. I had an innate love of drums and percussion – I just really connect with them. I played drums in every band and ensemble my school offered, and I even played snare drum on the drumline of the UC Berkeley marching band. In high school though, I realized what an amazing instrument the tabla is so when I tried my hand at it, I fell in love with it.

My first teacher was my father, Suresh Makhijani, who is an incredible musician . He was a child prodigy, has trained extensively since childhood, and used to sing on All-India Radio. In 2001, my father was commissioned by the organizers of the Los Angeles Sindhi Samellan to write a Sindhi National Anthem. A poet wrote the lyrics, and my dad composed the song, sang it, and recorded it on CD. He then performed its world premiere at the Samellan and the Anthem, “Sindh Ke Salaam,” has been sung at the Samellans ever since. Though he is primarily a vocalist, he can play any and every instrument, including tabla. Eventually he said it was time for me to go on to another teacher. At that point, I went on to learn from Ustad Zakir Hussain, recognized as the greatest tabla player in the world, and I have studied under him for years. I also spent quite some time studying tabla in India at Zakirji’s legendary father’s school, the Ustad Allarakah Institute of Music in Bombay.

When I was six years old, my parents put me in Bharata Natyam (South Indian Classical dance) classes. I hated it. I think they just wanted to make sure I had something Indian in my life so I wouldn’t lose it and become just another bratty American kid. I continued dancing until I moved away for college. However, in my second year, I began to miss it and finally understood the immense beauty behind the dance form. I started out as a back-up dancer with my original teacher, Katherine Kunhiraman. She had trained in Madras at the premier institute of Bharata Natyam, Kalakshetra, where my aunt Pushpa (Makhijani) Shankar was one of the original teachers there and is one of the finest Bharata Natyam dancers today. Very few Sindhis continue studying and performing Bharata Natyam, so it’s great to count her as our own. Not long after I re-started grueling training, I had my Arangetram (solo dance debut) which was a big deal! It is like the graduation of Bharata Natyam, and if one continues dancing after that, they are considered a professional. I’ve continued to dance, and find that I appreciate it more and more with time. I was also invited to perform Bharata Natyam at the Sindhi Samellan in Los Angeles. I opened with an invocation piece, and on second day, I did a piece that my teacher choreographed for me in the style of Bharata Natyam, while for music my dad sang a Sindhi song live.

Unbelievable! It’s the most incredible honor for me to be able to learn from him. I sometimes get terribly intimidated because his skill is really beyond comprehension. He is so laid back though. He has such an amazing personality which puts people at ease. I would highly recommend everyone seeing him perform at least once – it’s truly magical.

I’ve been with the band since 1999 and it is one of the most important things in my life. I love being part of it. The band was formed to create a voice for Asian Americans. Here in the U.S., there is barely any music or much noted expression representing Asian Americans. This is our attempt at expressing our unique experiences as people descending from Asia, yet Americans. We have a political bent to our work too.

My bandmates are guys of Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Korean descent, and all of them are accomplished musicians who have studied traditional music in their respective countries of origin. The founding members had this vision of what they wanted to accomplish, started jamming, and so the band was born out of Oakland, California. A year after they started it, they wanted to add tabla to their sound. They heard about me and asked me to join them, and I’ve been so happy since.

Many of the pieces on this CD existed, at least in a skeletal form by the time I joined the band. Once I joined, I sat down and fit myself into the songs, trying to enhance them, rather than change the flavor of the piece. Certain songs were still unfinished, so I would offer input on how to shape them. We try writing in different rhythmic cycles such as 5 or 7 beat patterns, rather than just the standard 4 that most Western music is in. I was credited with co-writing one of the songs in which tabla is more prominent. All our pieces are completely team efforts. It’s interesting to bring all these instruments together because most of them traditionally would never be found on the same stage. We also have Korean percussion, and Japanese Taiko. Since we are jazz-based, there is a lot of fluidity to our pieces, and the same number will never be the same from one performance to the next. This makes it a continually evolving creative process, so it’s always a good challenge.  My favorite tracks are Spiritual; Ditagaonan, with a Southern Philippines feel; and Shimauta, based on a Japanese theme.  Some of our newer pieces, not on the CD include Thai and Lao melodies, and a Karnatic (South Indian) based piece I came up with. I am working on a Sindhi-flavored piece, so stay tuned for that!

I just finished working with one of my favorite artists. I was in Puerto Rico because I was asked to record tabla with Deevani’s new album. She is known for her song “Mirame” with Daddy Yankee – the reggaeton hit in Hindi and Spanish. I’m a big fan of hers so it was a thrill for me to get to work with her. The tracks will be produced by Luny Tunes – the biggest producers in Reggaeton. Some of my tracks will also be used for the upcoming Bhangraton album, produced by Luny Tunes, and featuring Jay Sean and Juggy D.

Since I listen to so many different genres, I really enjoy collaborating with people from across the board. I’ve worked with Karmacy (hip hop), the Pakistani rocker Tee-M, and this weekend will be performing with an American kirtan singer. Cheb i Sabbah, the world-renowned DJ/producer, had asked me to perform with him last year at a YSA retreat so that was a great chance for me to play with someone I had admired for so long, as well as to play for my Sindhi bhaure ann bhenuroon.

We’re Amil (Sindhi), so education was emphasized beyond all else when I was growing up. Since I was young I’ve wanted to go into medicine. Along the way I become really interested in math, physics, how things work, so I decided to study engineering in college. I always planned to continue on to medicine, but thought I’d take an alternate route. So I worked as a design engineer in medical devices for a few years, and did my thing with that. Then I spent a few months in India doing volunteer work, studying tabla, and yoga. Then I came to medical school.

I’m fascinated by Indian culture, in addition to the distinct Sindhi interest. I have always read on my own about religion, philosophy, language origin, art, history, literature. Minoring in South Asian Studies was a great way to tie all of this together.

My parents are incredibly supportive, and I’m so thankful for that. In terms of music, they encouraged it as a hobby when I was young. Later when they saw how serious I was getting about it, they were worried that it would interfere with my school work, so they tried to get me to limit my involvement. I could not keep away from it though, so they tried to understand. I know when I first picked up drums my mom asked me to switch to a “nicer instrument for girls, like the flute.” She never was able to convince me so my parents finally did buy me a drum set! Now they are my biggest fans. They come to most of my bands’ shows, and are right in the front row, and my dad always has his video camera going.

My father studied engineering, but when I decided to go into it, he encouraged me to look into something else since he felt the field was not the same as it used to be. He is really proud that I went ahead with it, that I’m the first female engineer in our family full of engineers, and that I graduated from one of the top engineering programs.

The reason I went into medicine is so that I could work for the less fortunate. I plan to work in impoverished areas in the US and abroad, and have done volunteer work in India and Jamaica in line with that. Even though my parents did not understand why I wanted to leave my comfortable lifestyle as an engineer, to go back to being a student for years to come; they understand my reasoning behind it, and therefore respect it.

I’ve always been intrigued by Sindhi heritage. I read as much as I can on it. Partition is what I think about most. I find the whole thing so horrific and mind-boggling, and have so much admiration for all of our elders who lived it and emerged so strong. Being Sindhi evokes a huge sense of pride for me. My parents tell me that when I was a very little chokri, I used to go around introducing myself as “Meena Makhijani Sindhi!” So the ties are strong.

My love for everything Sindhi allowed me and my brothers to convince our parents to take a family trip to Sindh some years ago. I was dying to see our homeland.  We went to Karachi; Hyderabad, where my family is originally from; and Mohenjodaro. An account of that trip could be its own article!

Ma Sindhi samji sanghanthi, para galan mein mukhe thori eindee ahe. I really regret that I’m not fluent. It’s such a lovely language, and so important for us. Most of the American-born and even Indian-born Sindhis that I know, cannot speak Sindhi. Dada Vaswani says that speaking Sindhi is the most crucial aspect to survival of our culture. I really hope that I will keep learning it, and that our generation will be able to pass it on to future ones.

In college at UC Berkeley, along with another classmate, I coordinated a Sindhi dance for the massive, very well-reputed annual Indian Cultural show. I thought it would be a great forum to put something Sindhi out there, since it had never been done before, and sadly, so many Indian people have no clue what Sindhi means, or where we originate from. The dance had a terrific response, and definitely increased awareness. Now don’t ask me what Sindhi dance is (besides “chejj”). Our point was to represent (even if we had to do some fabricating of dance steps).

I actually think about that issue a lot. I think this current generation is going to play a huge role in determining that, as in our lifetime we will lose anyone who actually came from Sindh. However, I definitely have hope for our future. As Sindhis have shown through time, we are able to migrate across the globe, study, trade, etc with the locals, in the local language, in the local manner, yet never blend to the point of losing our identity. This is incredible, and if it has sustained us for so long, I don’t see why it should fail us now.

We do have to make a conscious effort to maintain our heritage and connection. Certain avenues like Beyond Sindh Magazine and YSA are doing a terrific job of furthering this. Also the whole Sadhu Vaswani Mission and following is a large force that I think will really help to preserve a connection for us.

That is so unfortunate if parents or spouses squelch women’s ambition. It is a tough situation though because I’m sure our parents have hopes for how our lives will be, and we may not want to disappoint them by following the path we envision. Since our parents have worked so hard for our benefit though, I think they ultimately just want us to be happy. True happiness will follow from knowing we did our best to follow our dreams, whatever those may be, and how much of an “alternate” path they may be on. Even if at first it is difficult for our parents to understand, in the end hopefully they will come around. If that still doesn’t work, their parents can call my parents! All I can say is one should never give up on her goals. I know that’s easier said than done though.

In terms of marriage, I hope people don’t rush into it just because society dictates it. So many people get married young, and then feel trapped and robbed of opportunities they could have had. I think it’s better to take your time, develop yourself, and then go into marriage whenever you are really ready for it, whether that is when one is young or a little older.

Just from my personal experience, my parents did not always see eye-to-eye with me on my ambitions. I persevered, and kept trying to convince them to see my side, while respecting them. I would have always regretted if I had not gone after what I dreamt of. Even now they sometimes worry if I’m studying enough while flying here and there to play music. However, I have been able to prove to them that I can balance all of my interests, and now they are proud of what I’m doing.