As a Hochstein student, Bhavana Chawla was among a group of students who posed for a picture for Hochstein’s 70th anniversary poster in 1990. She took flute lessons at Hochstein with Diane Smith and studied piano with Jennifer Lacy. In the picture, she is wearing a red top and a pair of white shorts.
Years later, she was reminded of that picture when she saw a photo of her niece, Marigold, who is now about the same age she was in the poster. Marigold is wearing a red top and white shorts, and even has a similar pose, with her elbows out to the side - however Marigold never saw that original photo of her aunt! The similarities go beyond that: they both play piano, share similar hobbies, and sometimes will be wearing almost the exact headband or colors.
She says, “It’s synchronous signs like this that go to show me, people are very much connected in their hearts, no matter where we are … And with some people, in this case, auntie and niece, the connection is all the more special, like kindred spirits.”
Bhavana now lives in Kauai, Hawaii, and her niece is in Madison, Wisconsin, so they don’t get to see each other often. Bhavana has her own healing and cooking businesses and has a cat sanctuary in her yard.
She hasn’t played flute in a while, but is still involved in music, making up her own sweet, peaceful extemporaneous melodies on the piano. She also sings. Her whole family is musical – her brother (Marigold's father) and her sister both took music lessons at Hochstein.
She also has done some storytelling as part of Community Speaks at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, a forum for South Asians to share transformative stories of their lives.
Bhavana says, “Hochstein has a very special place in my heart, a bright memory to this day. It was certainly a solace and a joy in all the years of childhood. … During our less economically comfortable years, it was so wonderful to have the support of Hochstein and the sliding scale music classes. I’m always grateful to my parents for enrolling us, and Hochstein providing this. Hochstein was like a home away from home; the teachers were like mentors.”
Hochstein still provides scholarships and tuition assistance to students in need. Find out more about Hochstein’s Tuition Assistance program at https://hochstein.org/Registration/Tuition-Assistance-Need-Based-Scholarships.
To support Hochstein and the programs that make music lessons available to all, visit https://hochstein.org/Support.
Bhavana also shared this scenic photo of the Wailua River near her home in Kauai. Aloha!
