Growing up in the U.S., I'd siloed off my identities. While I was an Indian at home, I was an American at school. I have now embraced both the identities.

Being an Indian in the U.S. and growing up in the suburbs were the two things that really shaped my outlook.

Growing up, any time I would sit down with my grandfather to learn or talk about Carnatic music, he would bring up G. N. Balasubramaniam. Listening to the recordings he would play me, I was dazzled by GNB's voice and how he was able to execute ideas that I could barely wrap my head around.

The youth is hungry for good music; I feel responsible and glad that I can be an agent who can mentally, emotionally stimulate them to listen to music outside of cinema.

It's a weird place to be in because my dreams in life have surpassed what I could have ever imagined. I just hope I can continue to write stand-up, but I would say my big dream is to build an amazing family. It's so boring and cheesy, but that's my focus.

I always say three things make a writer: inspiration, obviously; perspiration, doing the work. But the third is desperation. I'm not really fit for anything else, or to have a real job. That fear drives me. The pressure has always been self inflicted.

I don't think any collector knows his true motivation.

There are certain things I believe we need to keep in our emotional arsenal as we navigate through life. Hope is a big one. The more of that we can carry, the better.