From IIT to Coke Studio: How Kavish Seth Built His Own Instrument

🎙 About This Episode:
Songwriter–Inventor Kavish Seth traces his journey from IIT Bombay’s classrooms to singing on Mumbai’s streets—and eventually inventing his own instrument, Noori. We talk about fear and agency: how a father’s one line about never compromising on your questions, two brutal years of JEE prep, and a furious poem written on an exam paper pushed him to challenge the “safe” path.
Kavish opens up about his rozi–roti experiment—walking through the city with a guitar, singing for cobblers, chaiwalas and fruit sellers—and how that day on the streets changed his idea of art, dignity and survival. We travel with him to Banaras, movement songs and andolan geet, and the politics of language in projects like Zubaan. Finally, he takes us inside the dream behind Nori: an instrument that can speak Hindustani, Western and Arabic “languages”, a space where artists from different worlds can truly have a musical संवाद. Along the way he sings and breaks down his own songs—launda-geet, protest pieces and inner-war ballads where दिल और दिमाग आमने–सामने बैठते हैं.

💬 Join the Conversation now!
Got a question for Kavish, or a thought on indie / street music? Drop it in the comments!

🔥 Break-It-Down Podcast:
👉 Shahid Mallya: The Untold Struggle of Playback Singers
👉 Dr. Sid Warrier & The Psychology of Music
👉 Exposing Reality Shows with Piyush Kapoor
👉 Justh & Magic of Creating Viral Songs
👉 Ehsaan Noorani & Magic of Tunes
Watch Now:
   • Break-It-Down  

🎨 Credits:
Thumbnail: Raghav Gadhvi
Research: Mythili Venugopal, Snigdha Roy, Khyati, Himanshu, Vedansh Arora
Research Co-ordination: Khyati & Himanshu
Editing: Kaif
Studio: Seers Studio
Producer: @antarikshtakkar

🔔 Follow for more:
📸 Instagram:   / doosre_shabdon_mein  
📩 Business: mailtoiow@gmail.com

Chapters:
00:00 – Intro: Launda–Geet, Banaras Vibe & Why Kavish
01:39 – Banaras, Maai Ki Daant, Sheher Barsaat & “Quirky” spirituality
03:12 – School, पिताजी की सलाह & never compromising on your questions
04:34 – Two brutal years of JEE prep & cracking IIT
05:05 – IIT Bombay, light workload & discovering the guitar
06:44 – पहली बार abhibyakti: music as a way to meet yourself
08:19 – Studying by observation: music as protest & owning your agency
11:58 – Lucky Ali, “Dooba Dooba” & early guitar influences
12:32 – Writing the first original song in IIT days
17:26 – “कोई रहमान नहीं होता”: the Dean, the exam poem & almost dropping out
20:09 – Staying back in IIT, circumstance as a gift & trying everything
21:09 – Aam Aadmi Party internship, Delhi & politics as life school
28:27 – “जुबान खोलता नहीं”: songs of dissent & finding your voice
32:44 – Andolan geet: protest poetry, movement songs & the street
33:42 – How much पैसे does an artist really need? Planning the rozi–roti experiment
36:01 – First day on the street: cobbler, chaiwala, fruit seller & losing शर्म
41:48 – After rozi–roti: courage to choose music full-time & carrying your own songs
47:38 – A Spanish sarod on a terrace & the spark to build a new instrument
51:25 – What is Nori? Designing an instrument that speaks many musical “languages”
1:00:23 – “दिमाग की गिरफ्त में दिल”: live performance & the inner war of heart vs mind
1:14:25 – Outro: sitting in Bombay, giving everyone Banaras ke darshan