Mumbai: Music education is inevitably pushed to the side in many Indian schools where even necessities like power are considered luxuries. However, music was never optional for 19-year-old Mishka Aswani of Los Angeles; it was the foundation of her life and, as she puts it, her pulse. The idea that millions of kids in her native country were growing up without it was also too much for her to handle.
Mishka started giving musical instruments to underfunded Indian schools through the Music Matters Project, a non-profit she formed with the intention of changing that. She has so far reached 75,000 kids, inspiring them to pursue music while also providing them with instruments.
The idea came to her a few years ago while she was visiting Mumbai. Mishka was troubled by the realization that the school lacked any musical instruments as she was visiting her mother’s former elementary school, a location that brought her many happy memories. “There were no teachers, no instruments, and no plans to teach music.” “I was taken aback,” she remembers.
Mishka, who had studied the piano since she was a little girl, realized how much music had influenced her and how incredibly unjust it was that other kids did not have the same opportunity. “I found it incomprehensible that these children were deprived of music, which is so vital to humankind and made me happy,” she says.
The transformation began to take shape at that point.
Mishka returned to Los Angeles and started to raise money. What began as a modest endeavor in the ninth grade quickly turned into her life’s work. She began shipping instruments to India with the assistance of her family, particularly her grandparents in Mumbai.
Every trip home turned into a moment of confirmation. “The joy on the faces of the kids is evident as they play the instruments we supplied. I have never had a more exquisite encounter in my life. I am giving back what music has given me,” Mishka says.
Mishka couldn’t just stop in India when it came to music. She started a “local redistribution system” to gather and give musical equipment to impacted schools around the United States in 2024 after destructive wildfires destroyed schools and their instruments in areas of Los Angeles.
Her organization quickly established itself as a conduit between schools and benefactors, guaranteeing that music would never be silenced.
The vice president of the Brihanmumbai Secondary and Higher Secondary School Principals’ Association and Mumbai division coordinator for Music Matters, Sachin Gawli, claims that Misha Aswani is giving out musical equipment valued at between Rs 80,000 and Rs 1 lakh to schools for free. Her efforts have so far helped over 50 Mumbai-based aided and underprivileged schools.
According to Gawli, the principals of these schools have conveyed their sincere appreciation, stating that the tools have revolutionized the way kids approach learning. It has changed the lives of countless people who had never talked about their love of music. Some people are holding a guitar or keyboard for the first time. It is enchanted,” he claims.
Mishka’s goal is straightforward: to preserve music in everyone’s heart. “Music teaches empathy, heals, and connects people.” “No matter where they live, every child deserves that chance,” she argues.
Mishka is adamant that music should be a part of growing up, no matter where in the world you are. She intends to do everything in her power to demonstrate that music transcends all boundaries through her Music Matters Project. “So if music can be a therapy, it can be a reason for creating compassionate humans,” she says.
