Adam Greig is AR Rahman's right hand man at the KM Music Conservatory. And if you're a part of Chennai's buzzing social scene, you've likely bumped shoulders with him at a party or a concert, and between his Scottish accent, mop of blonde hair and a penchant toward making a bold style statement - he stands out from the crowd, loud and proud, almost everywhere he goes. But he wasn't always this self assured. In fact, 12 years ago, long before he was the artistic director and academic co-ordinator at KM, when he first got the call to come to Chennai for a job opportunity as a piano teacher, Adam tells us in many ways he went 'back into the closet'.
While this might be a story for Pride Month coinciding with World Music Day (June 21) next week, the underlying message is one we can all relate to. Self worth is not dependent on where you live, what you do or who you choose to love. It does help however, to find a tribe that will embrace every shade of the rainbow that is you. Excerpts from the interview:
Did Chennai feel welcoming to an expat who was gay when you moved here over a decade ago?When I first moved here at 27, I really was quite conscious about hiding myself, at least in the first year or so. And part of it was just because I was moving into a professional teaching position coupled with the fact that it was much more conservative than where I was coming from, this was when Section 377 was still enforced. I remember I had a private social media account, it wasn't under my real name, things like that. It really felt that I had gone back into the closet in some ways when I first moved.
I was also really confused to start with because one of the parts of culture and society here is that guys walk around holding hands all the time. And we don't have that in Scotland. So I thought, 'oh maybe it's a lot more acceptable that I thought it was for a long time...' (laughs) Until I learned that is just how things happen here. But all of the fear that I felt in many ways, it was my own. I've never faced any problems since I moved here either. I am very protected in many ways. The way that India views foreigners and the allowances made for them vs people from the country are huge.
How long did it take to build a sense of community?
Quite quickly I think. At first, I just spent time getting accustomed to being in the country. And that took a while. But there were other faculty working at KM who were also out and proud, and that helped because they knew a lot of the groups in Chennai, the parties etc
How important are pronouns to you?
Not at all for me really. But I literally landed in Chennai recently after spending a month at home and that was one of the major differences I could see this year, compared to my trip last year - was just the awareness and relevance and discussion around pronouns going on in the UK at the moment. And I found it much more prevalent there than here. I was very happy about the fact that it is such an active discussion. But it's difficult, it is an active relearning, particularly with people that you've known for a long time.
What makes you feel disrespected?
It would be disrespectful to not pay attention to pronouns, with people wanting to be addressed in a certain way. Particularly when people are making an effort to make it clear and easy. Hate speech is obviously offensive as well.
Creative people tend to feel more, there are heightened emotions. Do you think growing up vulnerable and gay contributed to you finding more creativity within yourself?
Creativity is so much about that freedom to express yourself. And so I have a feeling that there is a connection there.
And when you really think about it, the act of performing, getting on stage and performing for other people can be a very vulnerable but also not normal position to be in. It's not normal to sit in front of hundreds or thousands of people and have them actively engage in you performing complicated tasks. Particularly complicated tasks which are there to evoke emotion. That in itself is an unnatural state. So when we perform, we have to develop a performance persona, build some shield or armour or method of handling this situation. Connecting into that, to be able to turn this on and off, is a large part of what performance is. And I think people within the community have to either alter their persona or feel obligated to, in order to fit in, get used to accessing this. So yes, it does help in performing. It's not something you can teach something how to do and it takes it a long time to develop.
What makes you feel seen?
I like to be seen. And I generally go for very bold and out there clothing which I like to do here. (Laughs) I like to being able to walk out into the street dressed for a concert and everyone will just turn around and stare, one way or another. That's my 'look at me, I'm here' moment.
What's your favourite accessory?
At the moment I am all about chokers. I have three or four metal chokers that were a gift from a very close friend here. So I am exploring those at the moment.
What makes you feel supported?
Just having that very strong group of loving and caring friends who you can be yourself with. The ones who don't need you to be acting or working in a certain way - where you can just be.
If there was something you could educate people on for Pride Month?
Being curious. I think with pronouns and language in general around identity, people get very scared about asking questions in case they make mistakes. And that can often come off either in silence or in ignorance. So I would encourage people to learn how to respectfully ask the questions they want to ask, and ask the right people. Instead of just being like: 'it's too complicated, I don't get it'.
How much has changed in the world since you came out as gay at 18?
What I love back in the UK is how much more these conversations are happening - particularly at a school level. I remember quite a few times going home and just seeing how sensitive my sister's children were when they were at school. How much they understood about trans and sexuality, gender and identity because they were actively engaging with it at school, and how open they were about those discussions.
Chennai has definitely changed a lot since I came here. In many ways, I have seen the development of this even through attending pride marches. When I first came, back in 2012, these marches were small. They were active sites of activism. The people who were there were making statements but they were scared about the statements they were making. They had fear, there were a lot of people wearing masks. Fast forward to last year's march and it's gone from maybe about 50 to a 100 people a decade ago to a thousand people. And I think that shows that there has been a huge change in the tide over discussions, over allies, over acceptance. And I find that beautiful.
Has AR Rahman set a precedent of acceptance of the LGBTQIA++ community in any specific ways?
AR is a good example of someone who preaches tolerance, love and acceptance. This overarching ethos is what I find very accepting within KM. We have also hired lots of people across the spectrum of the LGBTQIA++ community. And in turn, I am noticing that increasingly that we have many active, strong LGBTQIA++ student voices as well.
What are you working on right now?
We are working on an art programmme for the Street Child United Cricket Cup in September - which is a beautiful initiative where 326 street kids are coming from around the world to Chennai just to play cricket with each other. We also have a new campus in Mumbai, so I am working on course development and we're gearing up to the start of the academic year in July. Busy, busy, busy...
Coming into your own, what has made the biggest difference?
Finding your tribe. If you are surrounded by people who you know will love and accept you no matter what, it gives you that position of strength to be able to express what you want to do. So being very fussy and choosy about the people who let in and keep around you, who will support you and choose you and being very aware of the people who are not good for you as well.
Has music had a part to play?
Yes, if you the count the realisation that diversity is what makes people interesting. My closest friends - none of them are musicians. If you hang out with carbon copies of yourself, it can be quite a small world.
Coming out story
I was 18 in my first year of Uni, and I was back home on holiday. I remember it because I had left a badge on a pair of trousers. And the badge said: 'Hello Boys.' And I had put it for wash. And my mum had found it and called my sister. And my sister called me and said: 'Okay, you have to speak to them because... they know.' And I remember getting back to the house. And my parents were doing everything possible to avoid having that conversation. Eventually, I lost my patience and said: 'Look we need to talk, go and sit down!' And instead of the addressing the news of me being gay, they lectured me on the effects of smoking for 45 minutes. (Laughs) After that night, my mum was getting a lot of books from the library along the lines of 'Oh, your son is gay, what to do now...' And I would get cards from her friends saying: 'We still love you'. And I said: 'Well I would hope so!'
I was 18 in my first year of Uni, and I was back home on holiday. I remember it because I had left a badge on a pair of trousers. And the badge said: 'Hello Boys.' And I had put it for wash. And my mum had found it and called my sister. And my sister called me and said: 'Okay, you have to speak to them because... they know.' And I remember getting back to the house. And my parents were doing everything possible to avoid having that conversation. Eventually, I lost my patience and said: 'Look we need to talk, go and sit down!' And instead of the addressing the news of me being gay, they lectured me on the effects of smoking for 45 minutes. (Laughs) After that night, my mum was getting a lot of books from the library along the lines of 'Oh, your son is gay, what to do now...' And I would get cards from her friends saying: 'We still love you'. And I said: 'Well I would hope so!'