Malar Bala’s (12) eyes light up with joy as she recounts interviewing Leland Blue, an alternative rock band, for an episode of her music podcast, Getting in Tune Pod, which she hosts with close friend Anya Warrier (12). With the glow in her eyes comparable to the brightness of the ring light framing her face, Malar bursts into laughter, singing the first line of a rap she created to welcome the band members: “7 million streams!”

Whether it be dancing to music in a grocery store when she was younger, playing the violin in the upper school orchestra, serving as a jazz vocalist for the jazz band or interviewing artists for her podcast, Malar interacts with music in almost every aspect of her life. Ever since she was young, music has helped her open up to other people.

“I’m generally a super shy person, so it would be so weird because I wouldn’t talk to anyone but if music started playing I would start dancing,” Malar said. “[It’s the] same thing with that for singing — now I sing everywhere I go.”

Malar started participating in the orchestra and playing the violin in sixth grade, and she has performed as a jazz vocalist since her junior year. She notes that the spontaneity of jazz and the room for interpretation significantly influenced her outlook on life.

“I’m thankful for jazz because it brought me back to the violin in a roundabout way,” Malar said. “Everything you’re singing, if you’re truly in the moment, it’s coming out of your music and what you think is right in that moment, and no one can take that away [from] you and no one can be the best at it technically. So that reminded me that I might not be technically the best [at] the violin, but I’m the best at my interpretation of music.”

Close friend Sriya Batchu (12) recognized that Malar grew more confident near the end of her freshman year.

“It was a really great fit because she’s really good [at] talking to people especially, [with] adults and stuff,” Sriya said. “It made me happy to see that she was really growing into herself and her confidence.”

Malar participated in Student Directed Showcase (SDS) in her freshman year, which helped her step out of her comfort zone and make new friends. She also grew more willing to participate in activities and apply for positions, such as in orchestra, the jazz band and Women in STEM (WiSTEM). She attributes this “gradual shift” to a change in her outlook on life from a more negative lens to a positive lens.

“Before, I viewed everything as [being] there so I could fail,” Malar said. “But now I think of things as opportunities to succeed, or at least learn from it. It wasn’t really like a confidence boost. I like to think I’m more confident, but I think the biggest thing was changing how I looked at things or viewed things.”

Malar took her love of music further with her music podcast, Getting in Tune Pod. In this podcast, Malar and Anya interview artists about their inspiration, music and more. They have produced a total of 23 episodes, with guests ranging from alumni like Tasha Moorjani (‘20), Joel Morel (‘20) and Alex Kumar (‘21) to students and teachers like upper school theater teacher Jeffrey Draper, Arely Sun (12), Ayan Nath (12) and Arnav Dani (12), as well as musical artists like Leland Blue and Adam Ragsdale.

Through their podcast, Anya strengthened her bond with Malar and witnessed music’s influence on Malar’s life and the positive attitude with which she approaches everything she does.

“Her biggest strength is always taking everything as an opportunity,” Anya said. “She’s really willing to work hard. She has her own nonprofit. She has a podcast; she makes music. She writes songs herself, like super creative, but also not afraid to put a lot of work into what she does. She takes on new things, but everything that she takes on, she puts her 100% into it.”

Dr. David Hart, director of instrumental music at the upper school, has taught Malar from sixth through 12th grade and has seen her grow throughout the years.

“What is so amazing to me is she’s making impacts not only at Harker, but outside of Harker in the community,” Hart said. “She started a strings program … where she offered instruments and lessons to underprivileged students who didn’t have the opportunity and gave them a chance to learn and perform in a recital and to see the joy she had building that and the impact was very unique, and something worth highlighting.”

Another activity that Malar holds close to her heart is modeling. Although it takes her out of her comfort zone, she notes her enthusiasm to participate and her goals. Malar recently signed with a modeling agency for advertisements and print. Through modeling, she hopes to spread inclusivity and to inspire South Asian girls to embrace and love themselves.

“I’m from south-south India,” Malar said. “My mom is from the very tip of India, and as you go down India in the south, the skin tones tend to get darker, just because the sun is harsher when you go down. Growing up, I did not like how dark my skin was. I would cry all the time, but now I like it. I joined modeling because I think that’s such a common problem for Indian girls. It’s hard sometimes because I don’t like people taking pictures of me. That’s the sacrifice that I’m willing to make.”

Malar has faced struggles in her modeling, but she always maintains her goals in mind and strives to inspire self-love among South Asian girls and inclusivity in society.

“Finding brands that fit what you’re trying to do as well, like promote inclusivity, is really helpful,” Malar said. “But that’s also really frustrating because you’re trying to get to brands that have [a] bigger reach. My entire goal was trying to make South Asian girls with darker skin feel better about themselves, but if I’m only working with smaller brands, then you don’t get as big of a reach.”

Despite these challenges, Malar has continued to pursue modeling to spread her message of love and inclusivity to more people.

Whether through music, modeling or personal growth, Malar always maintains her positive and outgoing personality. No matter what, she always goes above and beyond to convey her appreciation for others, whether through hosting a scavenger hunt for Sriya’s 15th birthday or through the simple act of waving to people on campus.

“I love walking around and saying hi,” Malar said. “If I could do that all day, I’d be content. I think there’s a lot behind the ‘Hi.’ It’s like, ‘Hi. I’m happy to see you. And thank you for being here.’ I want someone to know that I was happy that you were there, or I’m happy that you’re here today doing your best because that’s all you can do.”