“With the guitar, it was something different; magical.”
An Interview with Aman Shah | Everyday People #87
Hi, this is Season 3 of Everyday People. I believe everybody has an interesting story to share, even if they don’t know it themselves. I try and bring that out of them, so that you can see that someone else’s life is as complex and large and beautiful as your own. I believe that is inspiring — do you?
This week, Mr. Aman Shah. (Interview conducted: 5th May, 2020).
1. Who are you, what do you do, and what is your current side project?
I am Aman Shah, a 27 year old software developer based in Kolkata. I like to play the guitar and mostly keep to myself.
Of late, I’ve wanted to step out more and socialize with people (obviously pre-lockdown). So I decided to teach beginners how to play the guitar. A friend of mine volunteered to be my first student. This is my side project — I am teaching myself how to teach others. 😄
2. How long have you played the guitar? Does teaching mean anything special to you, or is it just something to try? What does music specifically mean to you?
I have been playing guitar since high school, I think from 8th grade. While I don’t consider myself an expert, I am proud that my guitar takes me to my happy place. Music is something which is very special and close to my heart.
There have been several years in my childhood where my health forced me to stay at home.* Music kept me engaged [at that time]. I started with the keyboard when I was 8 years old and then a few years later decided to try my hand at guitar. With the guitar, it was something different; magical.
That instrument has helped me express myself and has never failed to calm me down. Now this has become true for any music around me. It creates a bubble which cannot be burst.
About teaching: I’ve thought about it since my days in college, but it never took the front-seat. Over the past year, I have had a lot of time to think things over and decided I should give this a try. While I have started with guitar, eventually I want to teach people how to code as well.
3. You briefly mentioned you’re a software developer, but that’s it. Is that important to you at all, or is it just something that pays the bills? How has your relationship with your career changed over the course of your life? What drives you to keep going?
I like software development. I chose to miss out on a good institute for my B.Tech. just because I wasn’t getting a seat for Computer Science there.
The reason I didn’t talk about my work is because of late it has become slightly monotonous and boring. I’m at a stage where I am trying to look for something different and new — technology on which I actually want to work.
Our work takes up about 1/3 to 1/2 of our day; it becomes difficult to think of anything beyond it on a normal weekday. I am trying to avoid tunnel vision when it comes to work so that I can try something new. So presently my job is something which pays the bills, until I bring a change to it.
I’ve been trying out a few different online courses in my free time, but none of them have yet fascinated me and I ended up quitting those courses midway.
What drives me to keep going? The desire to earn money. I aspire to have my own home, car, a good guitar setup, and more. And I intend to keep going towards that target one step at a time. To me, these aspirations are not for their materialistic value, but for the peace and security that they carry with them. I tend to plan out everything way in advance and that kind of gives me a sense of security. This need for security gives me the desire to earn more.
4. Given your deep inclination towards your music, your health, and your relationship with work, what would you say are the 3 main emotions you want to feel over the next X years?
Peace. Satisfaction. Companionship.
All 3 for the next decade at least.
The past 3–4 years have been really challenging and difficult for me. Both in terms of physical health and mental health. I felt emotionally broken by people I never expected to put me through that. There was a point where I had just stopped trusting anyone. It took me a lot of panic attacks, countless hours of self isolation, introspection, and retrospection to get over that.
Then, last year, I nearly lost my life after having an episode of VT while commuting to work. (VT, Ventricular Tachycardia, is when your heart starts to beat irregularly and uncontrollably fast, mostly fatal.)
It took me 3 months of rest, a heart surgery and an implant to partially recover from this. I think I have recovered physically, with some limitations put on for life. I’m still working on the mental trauma, stress and fear.
However I’m happy to say I’m in a much better place. This is where my need for peace comes in. I just needed some time off from all that has happened in the past. Music helps me deal with this.
My time in recovery gave me a lot of free time to think over things, which made me move towards rediscovering myself. I have been concentrating my efforts towards finding things which will make me a better person, both in my nature and in my profession. I hope to succeed in this, and that will give me a feeling of satisfaction.
Finally companionship — I have been through a lot, but by fate’s grace, I have always had my parents, brother, sister-in-law and some close friends stand by me all this time. However, not everyone knows everything, and I wish to find someone with whom I can share everything.
5. Now that the audience has read your amazing interview, what can you leave them with?
When I listen to songs, I can hardly focus on the lyrics. I like songs based on how they sound, literally. Only a few songs get past this barrier and I am able to focus on their lyrics, which is even more pleasing.
Since we’ve talked about my liking for music and the fact that I am focused towards rediscovering myself after a difficult time, I would like to share a song with the audience whose lyrics made a lot of sense to me — Have You Ever Seen The Rain? by Creedence Clearwater Revival
My message to the audience is that no matter what comes in front of you, never give up. In times of adversity, your hope is your strength.
Hello friendo, you made it to the end. Thank you!
This is Season 3 of my interview series.
Everyday People is season 2 and up of Talkback Tuesday, a project I started in 2016. The previous interview was Episode 86: Anto Nithyaa Joseph.
Anto is a QA person by day, and an art entrepreneur also by day. She’s an extremely hard-working and prolific person, looking to go full time on art. Having been encouraged by her parents to try everything from a young age, Anto continues learning different types of crafts even today, and made her first sale earlier this year.
I decided to interview Aman myself in an effort to reconnect with an old friend. Another old friend to both of us is Rishabh Ahuja, whom I interviewed back in 2017 (Interview #30), when I wasn’t even putting people’s faces on their interviews!
