‘Radio was like a guru for me’

As a kid, I saw my father play a string instrument, called dilruba. He always wanted his children to train in music. He was my first teacher. My mom was a singer and a huge influence. While growing up, radio was like a guru to me and I’d be glued to it. Lata Mangeshkar ji remains my greatest guru. I also considered Begum Akhtar and Mehdi Hassan my gurus. They inspired me to sing ghazals.