Drumming away Dyslexia

Ashwini Nair

Considered one of the most talented drummers in the country today, Jai is associated with many prestigious bands like Indus Creed, Karsh Kale, Ram Sampat, Shankar Ehsan Loy, Vishal Shekhar, Pritam, Blackstratblues, Tough On Tobacco and Divine, to name a few. Known to transition across music genres like the blues, rap and bollywood, Jai does it all from participating in the Coke Studio to teaching aspiring drummers.

Often labelled as the most versatile drummer in the Indian music industry, Jai began to play the drums only at the age of sixteen. It started as a diversion from school, but began to play a major role in his life when his mother made a deal with him. Little did she know at the time that she had set him on his life path.

It all began with his constant struggles at school. Jai wanted nothing more than to drop out. He didn’t understand what the teachers were saying and the teachers didn’t understand what he was doing in their class. Naturally, the absence of interest and motivation from either quarter led Jai to take on the role of the quintessential backbencher; in the class but never present.

Jai says it best when he tells us, “Most kids would be called out for awards and prizes. The only time my name was called was to go to the Principal’s office’.

After numerous rounds of changing schools and lack of proper direction, Jai failed the eighth standard. With no intention of repeating a grade, Jai decided to put an end to this traumatic cycle by declaring that he was ready to drop out of school.

Jai’s elder brother had been diagnosed with Dyslexia very early on. In spite of all her knowledge on the subject, Jai’s mother Ms. Jyoti Row Kavi -Hon. Secretary, MDA, still failed to catch any early signs, which in his case, only became apparent from the eighth standard onwards. The assessment tests clearly indicated that Jai had Dyslexia and soon his parents moved him to Nalanda Public School hoping that he would receive the required attention.

By then he had lost all interest in academics. His friends had moved into college, his morale was low, and he didn’t think he would even be able to complete school. In the tenth standard prelims, he ended up failing in five out of the six subjects. But he had started showing some interest in drums, hanging out with Gino Banks, and had begun taking drums lessons too. He had set his heart on owning his own drum set. At her wit’s end, his mother offered him a simple deal, “Get enough marks for admission into a decent college and the drum set is yours.”

Having dreamt of his own drum set for a while, the thought of not owning one was too much for Jai and he decided to give it everything he had in order to ensure he cleared his tenth standard board exams. His mother says, ‘I have no idea how he did’. Jai sheepishly adds, “Neither do I!”

He worked hard and got an astronomical 82% in the board exams and with that, earned himself his very first drum set. A Rolling Stone’s concert later, Jai announced that he had found purpose and was going to play drums professionally.

He enjoyed it so much that he began playing with any band that approached him irrespective of the genre. That’s when he realised that there was so much to learn and enrolled in the Musicians Institute in California. This helped him shape up into a well rounded musician, and apart from playing with numerous bands, he even began to teach the drums.

Jai credits his success to having the right people and the right teachers in his life when he needed them the most. “They are the true superheroes. My mother refused to believe it when I said I can’t do it. The team at Maharashtra Dyslexia Association refused to believe it when others said I was useless.”

https://www.facebook.com/mdadyslexia

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