Last year, I started composing on the electric guitar. My go-to instrument is usually the piano or the acoustic guitar. But during the COVID19 lockdown I spent more time with the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar and discovered a new range of emotions that I can express on the instrument. The Les Paul is not actually mine, it belongs to Sanjay Joseph, a musician my father always speaks of as a genius of self-expression.

I met Sanjay Joseph in 2017 when I went to watch him play as part of a gig by The Dragonette Project. The quartet comprised legendary bass player Roger Dragonette, guitar maestro Derek Julien and drummer Saket Rao. I was completely taken aback by Sanjay Joseph’s skill. The way he expressed himself, the way he played the guitar and how the four artists were working together, talking to each other - I got to experience being in a crowd and watching real musicians playing live. That was the first live show I remember going to, and the whole experience will forever be engraved in my mind.

I met him thrice in 2018. First, when I went to his house for a basic guitar lesson when I first developed interest in the instrument. That lesson laid the foundation for my interest in music theory and whatever little I know and can understand now. That lesson is also etched in my mind because I was in complete shock when he let me borrow his guitar, a Gibson Les Paul model - a guitar which I still have and use regularly. He told me only two things as I left: “Practice as much as you can and take care of the guitar.” I was shocked that he just lent me one of his guitars, and that too a Les Paul, which isn’t just any guitar. 

We met again when he presented a workshop with my dad (at my school) on music, critical thinking and design. The next meeting was when I attended a guitar and music theory workshop conducted by him for a gathering of guitar players at different levels.    

I regret that over the years I haven’t practiced as much as I should’ve. The past two years I have had the opportunity and blessing to practice on his guitar regularly and hope that I can live up to it at some point.