Twenty-four-year-old Aliya has become so well versed with the Dhrupad style of music, that she now plans to promote it in Pakistan.

Aliya came to Bhopal in the year 2001 to fulfil her dreams of learning Dhrupad, one of the oldest styles of Indian classical music.

According to Aliya, the cultural exchange forms an integral part of the peace process and the friendship initiative.  She says it would be her endeavour to teach the nuances of Dhrupad to people in Pakistan.

"Teaching Dhrupad to my countrymen would be beneficial for us.  Cultural exchange starts at the grass root level.  My Guruji and I have tried our best in this regard, and I feel that it will definitely bear fruits.  I would tell my countrymen that Dhrupad was sung in the temples in the erstwhile eras but it has nothing to do with any particular religion.  It tells us about God, about festivals and everything that is spiritual," says Aliya Rasheed.

Aliya's teachers, Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha, considered her a special student all through the training, not only because she came all the way from Pakistan to pursue her passion for Dhrupad, but also because she was unfit visually.

"There was a difference between Aliya and any other regular student.  First of all she had come from a far-away place and secondly, she was visually impaired.  Both of these things made her unique.  I had faith on her talent from the very beginning and I knew that she would stay with us for 4-5 years and learn the music," said Umakant Gundecha.

According to Gundecha brothers, they did not feel any discomfort in teaching her, rather they say that her sharp mind and efforts to grasp everything made her learn the music with more gusto and enthusiasm.

Aliya not only became a favourite student of her teachers, but she became a darling of the whole Gundecha family.  The vast joint family treated her as one of their own, which was reciprocated by Aliya well.

"She learnt a great deal.  She was not only good in music, but her behaviour was also good.  She was very friendly to everyone in the family.  We had no qualms about Aliya being a Muslim.  We used to take care of her as she was on medication.  But now she is leaving, we are very sad," said Sunderbai Gundecha, mother of Gundecha brothers.

Aliya leaves for Pakistan next month with all her sweet memories with a promise to promote the Dhrupad in her homeland.