![]() The ‘mash’ of it all Vidya currently croons to all the songs from Padmaavat (Photos: Love Bug Robin Photography) And then guess who was singing all the national anthems at all events!” “When my sister joined my university, she told everyone that we can sing. “I find it difficult to talk about myself. Shyness was the culprit behind Vidya’s secret talent. ![]() By the time I went to college, I had totally embraced my Indianness, but I still didn’t tell anyone I could sing.” “I started participating in bhangra groups, dancing to songs like Kangana Tera Ni etc. “But by the end of high school, I realised this was ridiculous,” she says. Now if someone asks where you are from, you just say, ‘Umm the same country as Priyanka Chopra!’”īullying in middle school was so scarring that Vidya started hiding her Indian identity, never mentioning anything about her homeland, and buying lunch at school. “I didn’t have anyone like this when I was growing up. ![]() With South Asian actors like Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Kumail Nanjiani and the like on screen, Indian kids in the US have amazing examples to look up to, adds Vidya. She performed in Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru (Photo: Story Maker’s Photography) Indian kids in the US who are going through the same things as me can feel proud about being Indian.” Vidya connected with her fans on a six-city tour in India last year. “My mash-ups felt so organic because I felt so connected to India. “Growing up, I had such a Tamil household that a part of India never really left me,” she says. Dating wasn’t permitted, neither were video games, and TV time was limited. Lunch was not the only way that Vidya was different from her school mates. “Kids are mean! Everyone’s like ‘aw you smell like curry! Why do you have such weird lunch?’” ![]() “Puberty and adolescence was tough as it is, plus I was from a different country altogether,” she says. The ‘curry’ jokes at school hit Vidya hard. My bus driver would be playing Backstreet Boys and the kids would be eating peanut butter jelly sandwiches, and I’d be here with my idli sambhar… I used to fight with my mom to give me a ‘regular’ lunch – basically what American kids ate.” “It was always two worlds that I grew up in. “My mom would make us speak Tamil at home, I’ve grown up eating dosa,” she says. Still, she claims she’s a true blue Tamilian. ![]() Vidya was born in Chennai, but grew up in Virginia. Now if anyone asks where you’re from, you say, ‘The same country as Priyanka Chopra!’” “Indian kids have great examples to look up to now. On her return to LA, she uploaded her first video, and a singing sensation was born. So Vidya moved to Mumbai for two years, to learn Hindustani music. My mom gave me two years to figure out my singing plans and if they did not work out, I was to go back to medical school.” I loved how music made me feel, so I decided to give it a serious shot. So on weekdays, I would work at a cardiology office, and on the weekends, I’d sing. I started touring with Shankar and his band during my college and university days. “I grew up singing as well, but it wasn’t until college when I met clarinettist and composer Shankar Tucker that I realised the power of YouTube. I still love it I’m a nerd in that sense,” she says. When 27-year-old Vidya Iyer, popularly known as social media sensation Vidya Vox, answers the phone in Los Angeles, she sounds even more delightful than she does in her blends of Indian songs with Western music.Ī psychology graduate, Vidya didn’t tell anyone about her super singing skills when she was in school. ![]()
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