Introduction: I think from my top 10 best musical moments, the first would be getting introduced to music from an early age, when I was four or five years old. I was brought up in a family where everyone listened to very good music, so I think that introduction was important for me and was amazing. My brother used to learn classical music, and we all used to listen. So, I treat that as the first special moment in my life.

Realisation: The second is when my family discovered a music talent within me, especially singing, when I was around five-six years old. I always used to sing at home and my family noticed it. When anyone asked about me, my father would always reply that he sings quite well. I think that was the moment when I discovered the talent of music in me.

Performance: The third is my first live performance on stage when I was six-seven years old and getting awards for it. That immense love and appreciation from everyone made me realise how amazing it is. I continued singing and sang throughout my school life also.

Discovery: The fourth moment happened during my college days. I had kept my distance from singing as I was preparing for a good engineering career and IIT. But when I got to college, I started singing again and formed a rock band in the first year. We evolved well as a band and created original music. That enabled me to discover I can create original music. Indeed, it was a  special moment when I found the inner composer in me. We performed a lot in college and won competitions at city as well as state levels. We travelled across India and this really helped me. It also enabled me to start earning my living with this art. When people respect and appreciate your art, then you get paid for all the hard work. That whole time in my life was pretty special.

Reality: The fifth musical moment was completing my engineering and taking a train to Mumbai the very same day to participate in a reality show. When I first got into the top 10 of the reality show, it was a completely different world for me, where I witnessed such amazing and varied talents. I even got to know that I also stand somewhere and there is something special in my music too. A key moment was people and the channel praising me.

Film: My sixth musical moment would be when I was in Mumbai. It was on my third day in the city when I met a director and he listened to some of my compositions. He loved my work and signed me for my debut film, Fever. That was a solid moment for me when I realised that my song has been selected for a movie, and now things will become easier for me.

YouTube: The seventh moment would be my entry on YouTube. When I was doing films and other projects, I thought that I should do something else also for fans, and YouTube was the best platform. So, I started with a concept called unplugged Saturday. I started uploading one song every Saturday. The response was okay at first, but by the third-fourth song, it suddenly escalated. That was a key moment in my life when I got such a fan following on YouTube. I even got the best YouTuber of 2018. So, that was a great moment for me.

Television: The eighth one would be my entry into television with my first show, Tu Aashiqui, on Colors. My songs for the show were a success. I believe it was the only show at that time which had 12 original songs. Mahesh Bhatt sir made the show and praised me a lot. The songs became popular and led to more work opportunities.

Touring: When all these songs became popular, I got many offers for shows, including overseas. I did shows globally in international destinations such as Dubai, Amsterdam, Nepal, South Africa, Canada and USA. Being part of these and performing live was a feeling like no other. The feeling of global recognition is different altogether, as some people who have never even been to India were keen on listening to my music.

Independence: I think the tenth best musical moment in my life is when I thought of doing independent music, creating my platform and developing it, which happened in February 2020. That is when I decided to carry on my independent journey by my self – creating originals and making songs with good music videos with relatable storytelling! That is a very precious moment for me and I am continuously working towards it.

Rahul Jain is an acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician. Visit Instagram: @rahuljainofficiall