Published in The Assam Tribune on January 21, 2016

"Jim Ankan Deka is an Assamese musician, documentary filmmaker, photographer and director of a Bengaluru-based music institute and production house. He has won multiple awards for his music."

When I was young, my parents introduced me to Borgeet and the Khol. As time passed, I picked up
other instruments, including the guitar, piano, tabla, etc. I was so inclined towards music that I was sure of becoming a musician once I grew up. But taking birth in India, where people respect art, but seldom encourage children to focus on anything but studies, it was not easy to convince my family that there can be a career in music, too.

After completing my studies (simultaneously learning music), I headed towards Bengaluru in 2006, where I took up different jobs to survive. Well, I was not happy in the corporate world. I was looking for various options in music at the same time. There weren't many though. After six months of struggle, I got into a music school as a guitar tutor. And later, with the help of certain friends, I opened my first music school - Eastern Fare Music Foundation. This was the first music institute to be established by an Assamese in Bengaluru. As the months passed, we opened a couple more branches, teaching music to over 200 students. By 2009, the institute opened five branches all over Bengaluru, a recording studio, a production house and a philanthropic initiative called 'Count Your Blessings'. The music institute now has branches in Guwahati and Shillong, apart from Bengaluru, giving music education to more than 300 students every month.

I would urge every young person to have a dream. While an aim will help in choosing the right path, a dream will help to overcome the obstacles in life and encourage one to walk everyday in that path without fear. The other thing I want to share is, please stay away from drugs or any other intoxicat-ing stuff. Life can be happy without those substances. Pick an activity like music, dance or any other art form. Life is beautiful and it is up to us how we keep it that way.