My Heart

Fiza HKI, Australia

I was born in a little clinic in Dehradun on a wednesday back in ‘85 to two people who have always been my source of strength and creative support. Growing up, I was surrounded by the arts. My beautiful mother, Parveen, was an art teacher at her alma mater at Jesus and Mary Convent Dehradun, and my father is the Grammy nominated scion of the Imdad Khani Gharana; Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan. My brother and I were raised between Los Angeles and New Delhi, and because my parents had no real family support, we were always taken along to the homes of all my parents’ friends pretty much fr om the time we came in this world. My earliest memories are of ’taash’ parties in Delhi at the homes of illustrious artists and musicians, where gorgeous aging dancers burst into movement under the starry night. Or black tie dinners with scholars in the United States, wh ere everything from science and philosophy to food and colonialism were discussed into the wee hours. My heart has remained with the classics. Beauty moves me, the colours on a beetles back or the fine filigree on a chola bronze, the weave of a persian rug and the pure joy of watching music come to life before me. I want my art to reflect how I feel about this world we live in. I want it to slow time down.