Mumbai Sisters Bring Music Classes to 500 Kids on a Bus

For 12-year-old Naresh Purohit, music class is the one thing that gets him excited about school every single day.

Sisters Kamakshi and Vishala Khurana started The Sound Space in 2010 with a simple goal: make music accessible to children in Mumbai's underserved communities. They grew up in a home where rhythm shaped everything, from morning routines to family mealtimes, thanks to their father's training in Hindustani classical music.

The sisters noticed something powerful in their early classes. Many children struggled to understand their own emotions or why they felt certain ways. Music gave them that language.

"We have songs that make children aware of their bodies," Kamakshi explains. "No one really spends time explaining to children why their bodies are reacting in a certain way. Music helps with self-awareness."

For three years, the program ran in schools across Mumbai, blending music with academic learning. Naresh and his classmates spent 45 minutes each day singing, learning about instruments, and perfecting action songs. The approach worked especially well for kids who didn't thrive in traditional classroom settings.

But the sisters discovered a bigger problem. Government reports show over one million children across India aren't enrolled in school at all. In Mumbai, most of these kids live in bastis, the city's informal settlements.

In 2023, they launched Soundspace on Wheels. If children couldn't come to school, they'd bring the school to them.

The Ripple Effect

The mobile classroom is a transformed bus that now serves as a safe learning space. It moves through different communities on a weekly schedule, parking in neighborhoods where children gather for music lessons they'd never otherwise access.

The program now reaches 500 children across Mumbai's bastis. Teachers conduct full music sessions right inside the bus, creating a consistent, welcoming environment in areas that often lack basic educational infrastructure.

"We're not trying to make singers out of everybody," Vishala says. "We're just trying to bring the joy of music to as many people as we can."

The sisters discovered what Naresh already knows: when music becomes the teacher, every lesson feels less like work and more like play. Children who struggle with traditional subjects often excel at remembering tunes and lyrics. They develop awareness of their emotions, their bodies, and their own potential.

The bus keeps rolling through Mumbai's neighborhoods, proving that education doesn't always need four walls and a blackboard.