I remember somewhere around 2005, I was asked to pilot for a show on the BBC Asian Network. I remember thinking how strange it was to be asked to pilot for a station just because I’m brown, female and especially because I had been around for many years at that point. I had won a few scratch competitions, was mainly known for playing Hip Hop and I had already been piloting for a show on 1Xtra at the time. This was pre Serato and I didn’t know much about Asian music besides what I had heard my parents play around the house which was basically old school Bollywood hits and Gujrati hymns. I had no idea what to play, so someone high up at the station came to my uni halls, handed me a box of Bhangra and Bollywood records and told me to learn the music. I still didn’t feel like I could connect so I had to figure out a way to make it relatable to me. That’s when I started doing live mashups with what I was playing at the time and what I grew up on which was of course Hip Hop, House, UK Garage, Dnb etc. That became a big part of the show that I went on to do for the next 7 years. Back then, mainstream media wasn’t interested in what a handful of us were doing in the Asian scene. We weren’t on big mainstream festival lineups like you see now and there was no such thing as “inclusive lineups”. The South Asian music scene has come so far since then. The other day my friend put on an event called @indo.warehouse in New York and I was amazed at what I was witnessing. It’s progressive, it feels fresh, it’s exciting, it doesn’t feel like it’s been done before and nobody sounded like they were playing an Indian wedding dj set. I love that! Well done! @kunalmerchant @kahanimusic and @indo.warehouse 🙌🏽