Thursdays were holidays in convent schools. So to satisfy my super enthusiastic 12 year old self, I had a keyboard teacher come home to give lessons on playing Bollywood music, every Thursday morning. Soon mom and dad got me a slightly bigger keyboard and I played absolutely random tunes on it, good enough to not bother people around. On a serious note, I cleared 2 formal music exams (I honestly don't know how)!
Cut to 1st year of undergraduate college, I decided one day to step out from being a Madonna in my head to a contestant in the college event. To my absolute surprise, I was selected as one the vocalist in the college band that was alive only for a few casual jamming sessions.
But my hobby of singing was legitimate and my best friend (a choir singer) supported this hobby. We started jamming and recording a couple of videos and this made me practice singing and learn music in a more organized fashion.
As I got out of my shell and started living alone in the States, I got the courage and maturity to formally learn and practice music and cultivate this hobby. So here I am today, vocalist in the graduate student music group and strumming my uke, humming and living happily !