A mini autobiography

Prakruthi grew up primarily in Bangalore, but has also waded through Mumbai floods as a child, enjoyed the mountains and ‘thaati-nungu’ of Salem (in Tamil Nadu), and endured the year-long summer and dry heat of Erode (also in Tamil Nadu), with curd rice and pickle school lunches providing some midday relief. During her childhood, she got to visit dozens of cities across India, spending her vacations cruising the skies and attending banquet dinners in fancy hotels. She has also enjoyed the good, bad and ugly sides of the Indian Railways, often resorting to a fresh Famous Five novel (or anything by Enid Blyton, really) or magazines like Tinkle and Magicpot bought on the platform while waiting for the train to arrive, to make it through the two-day journeys from Mumbai to Bangalore, or wherever else their adventures would take them. Quite the imaginative child, she always held a sense of wonder about the world, longing to explore what was new or unique, always believing that there was mystery beyond the mundane. Or maybe, she just read way too many fictitious novels involving teen detectives.

 

Nonetheless, her exposure to various cultures, languages and people, made her a well-rounded student and sustained her curiosity and learning aptitude throughout middle school. Right before the inevitable entry into high school, her life took a complete turn as her family and childhood as she knew it so far ceased to exist. Her dad’s leaving marked a significant life event for this 11-year-old that would change everything from that point on. 

A time marked by undoubted trauma, anxiety and helplessness, this portion of her life was bittersweet. Though her world was falling apart, this was when she encountered the Love, Power and Truth of this man, Jesus Christ. 

 

Though it was a turbulent time in every way, Prakruthi found Peace in the Person of Jesus, and the way He stepped into their lives and took over was undeniably redemptive. Over the next few years, she wrestled through many questions, much despair and hopelessness, and found herself on the brink of suicide at least on three separate occasions. She grew up in a Spirit-filled church that helped shape her faith and dig deeper into Christianity. As a skeptical teenager, Prakruthi saw many things that were wrong with the church, and the world at large, and always longed for an answer. 

 

If God really cared, how could things be so woefully wrong, and what was the solution for it? 

If God really is good, as the church claimed he was, how would he right the wrongs in her own life?

 

Faced with challenges in her health, in her emotional well-being, in her family environment, struggling for finances and for purpose, this deep-thinker and artist grew to forsake all her dreams for a heavy dose of reality. For most of her teenage years, she battled depression and resigned herself to ordinary survival, though deep inside she still hoped that all her pain would amount to something of value. Prayer, worship music, and her mom’s unceasing encouragement that she was not forsaken by God-- these were often the only anchors to which Prakruthi could hold on.

 

“There’s no shadow you won’t light up, mountain you won’t climb up coming after me…

There’s no wall you won’t kick down, lie you won’t tear down coming after me.”

These lyrics from Reckless Love by Cory Asbury truly resonate with her journey, because God’s relentless love chased after Prakruthi and redeemed her life utterly and completely. 

 

Years later, Prakruthi is a worshipper, a prayer warrior, a friend and sister to many. She is a voice of influence, a singer-songwriter who desires to lead people into a face-to-face encounter with the true, living God, the One who didn’t stay contained in the pages of her Bible but leapt forth to rescue her from herself.

 

She is a creative, a writer, a dreamer who still struggles to believe in herself sometimes, but knows that because God made her and called her, she has something unique and irreplaceable to give. And so she keeps on living with trust and dependence on her Father, Friend and Master, Jesus. She seeks to be known as a fierce lover of God, a daughter who is responsive to her Father’s heart, a woman who carries a Mother’s heart, tenderly and gently leading many sons and daughters back to their true identity and worth.

 

She desires to see people step into their destiny, and boldly live a life full of colour, joy, hope, courage and strength. She believes every single human being has been designed in significance, beauty and wonder, and she wants to help them see it.

 

Currently, Prakruthi is a signed artist with Bridge Music (a collective of artists building a culture of family and worship in India), and serves at Face2Face Foundation (a Prayer House and forerunner in the Davidic worship and prayer movement in India) as a worship leader and internship leader.