Nurture is not such a big word

For as far as I can remember, I have been always around a piano. In fact, the earliest memory that I have of playtime involved the black and white keys. I remember I would start my day by opening the lid on the upright piano by the lounge in our house and strike a few tune. All the others would make of this as their cue to start preparing breakfast. This would go on, day after day, during my pre-schooling age.

I was not on the piano the whole day, though. My other passion during my younger years was my bike. My first was given to me by my father and it was built up. I assembled my next from scratch.

But music was in my soul, and the haunting tone of a piano kept on pulling me to that cerebral realm that I tried to explain to many a countless times and failed. I see logic in music. This is why I can play any song on the piano with just its chords in front of me. What differentiates it from being a 'music widow' is that I use reason in playing, while they play it by their heart.

When I turned 10, I discovered that I can figure out and play almost any musical instrument on my own if given some time on it. And this was when I first picked up a guitar. It is my brother's, and he was being given lessons by a friend of my mother. I was not able to listen to any of the lessons, and yet, there I was, sneaking out the guitar when my brother was not looking, and played it.

By 12, my parents may have recognised my inclination towards music and enrolled me for piano lessons. I, on the other hand, did not want it because I felt I knew already what was being taught. So, after just two days, I quit. This may have been the biggest mistake of my life because my parents thought that I was not really interested in music, and never nurtured my passion for it from then on.

In fact, a funny story that I think would be very appropriate to share right now is that my mother was pleasantly surprised a few years back that I can read piano sheets and play it. All this time, 34 years to be exact, she never realised that I can.

My point is, to all you parents out there, recognise early what your children likes and nurture it before it becomes too late. I don't blame my parents for any of this, because even without their help, I was able to learn as much of music as I can possibly do on my own. But it would have been a lot easier if I was helped along.