Long before she ran the 2015 London Marathon bleeding freely, sparking a global discourse on menstrual blood, or playing the drums for M.I.A, Kiran Gandhi was an American-return in Mumbai attending St Anne’s High School and deeply digging the music to Karan Johar’s Kal Ho Na Ho . “We used to dance, sing, listen to Spice Girls,” she reminisces. “I was also really big on Lego and I used to build robots. I used to get mini disc players and make my own mixes. I used to play video games and I was really [into math].”
Feminism 101
Growing up and moving between New York and Mumbai gave Gandhi a luminosity that’s unique. Today, she sports beach blonde-dyed curly hair and brown arms with intricate henna -like tattoos, and is almost always dressed in bright kitschy colours. Her début EP, Voices (released in 2016), is mellow electronica with strong percussion and bass that’s bound together with hip-hop and pop influences. Her lyrics are powerful, propelling her feminism in stylised and effective poetry. For instance, on the track ‘The Future is Female’, she sings, ‘I am just talking about loving the fem/ I ain’t talking about nobody else/ Toxic masculinity has to end/ I’m just talking about loving ourselves.’
Gandhi’s brand of feminism, like her music, is about celebration. She wants to live in a world where being ‘girly’ is not an insult. “We’re so comfortable when masculinity is valued over femininity,” she says. “All of us have a mix of both energies and we live in a world that is so sexist and misogynist. My brand of feminism is very positive and it’s about valuing femininity.”
The multi-tasker
As a musically-inclined child, the rebellious lure of drums attracted Gandhi at eight. Eventually, she ditched piano lessons for the loud and proud instrument; an unusual choice for a girl. In 2011, she graduated with a degree in mathematics, political science and women’s studies from Georgetown University, Washington DC. But while studying, she continued drumming, even playing for DJ collective, Thievery Corporation. For two years, Gandhi was the first-ever digital analyst at Interscope Records, studying consumer behaviour on Spotify and YouTube. There, she met M.I.A who was signed on by the label, eventually joining the British rapper and producer on tour.
When she had the opportunity to study business at Harvard University, Gandhi did both — got her MBA and continued to pursue music professionally at the same time. During this time, she eventually started coming into her own. “I started running in my second year at Harvard, I needed space to clear my mind of the very aggressive male energy [in school],” says the 28-year-old, admitting that her musical experience comes from the need to spend time alone. “If I spend a lot of time in society, I find I feel the pressure to lose pounds or settle down,” she says. “Those kind of pressures don’t affect men the same way they affect women.”
Leader of the pack
Right from the beginning, Gandhi was always taught to make a difference by her parents. They even skirted the idea of her running for politics or working in the White House. But the musician wanted her potential to be used onstage and for young women. When her blood-stained marathon run went viral, she used the ensuing publicity to be vocal about feminism, menstrual issues and eventually her music. “I grew up with very forward thinking and supportive parents and that made a big difference,” she says, remembering her mother normalising sex, sexuality and menstruation at home. “I didn’t grow up with the stigmas that the world was teaching me and there was a disconnect there at an early age.” Her stage moniker, Madame Gandhi — a collaboration with Berklee College of Music graduate, Alexia Riner — developed shortly after the new-found viral fame.
Homeward bound
Strangely, Gandhi never thought she’d be a solo musician, citing society’s negative brainwashing of young girls as a reason. “They’re supposed to be the girlfriends of the main musician or the backup dancer or the sexy whatever,” she says. But she broke out of those oppressive gender norms and is using her message of empowerment to help women fight everything that tries to hold them back.
This December, Gandhi will head homewards to perform at the NH7 Weekender festival. Like she always does, the musician will dial into the moment to rein in or unleash her feminism for the audience. But one thing will be certain, it’s going to be a celebration. “I really want to throw an electro feminist party,” she says, adding that a lot of times we don’t see women being responsible for big parties. Usually, it’s the male DJs on stage hyping a crowd. “I want to be the hero for the women in the audience and I want it to be joyful and fun and uplifting,” concludes Gandhi, who is working on new music but is keeping it under wraps for now.
Madame Gandhi will perform at Nh7 Weekender in Pune (December 8 to 10). Visit insider.in
