Lydia Hendrikje sits on her keyboards, dressed in blue denims and a white vest, with bright red lipstick. Her one-room-kitchen Bandra home seems to be an extension of her aesthetic, with a white desk next to French windows, the monsoon breeze flowing in, fairy lights, and a table in the kitchen. "That's how the Germans do it. We need a table in the kitchen!" she says, as she freshens up her make-up in the mirror. In October this year, Hendrikje, a jazz vocalist, would have been in India for four years. She left Rotterdam to come here and teach vocal music at Lower Parel's True School of Music (TSM). However, within three years, she started performing, and is now a regular at DJing and performing jazz with her band across city venues such as Raasta and Bonobo.

A year ago, Hendrikje released her first single here called Bombay Aaram Se, with friend and German musician Dario Brandt, which talked about what living in Maximum City (traffic and all) feels like. "Most people don't like India as soon as they get here, but Dario and I were fascinated by it. The job was just the right opportunity to come live here. The thing about Mumbai is, if you have a talent or want to do something, it's the one place where it can happen. There is so much variety in people, but it has equal opportunity for everyone," she says, as she poses for photographs in her Mount Mary neighbourhood. "The people who live around here have seen me doing some mad shoots, just prancing around. I have made my peace with the fact that this is my home now."