People of Georgian: International student comes for opportunities, stays for nature

What’s your story?

The Georgian community is full of unique, inspiring perspectives —and we’re sharing them as part of an ongoing series.

People of Georgian: Meet Naitik Talati

I trained for four years in Indian classical singing.

So I love to sit in nature and then listen to songs, and I also sing. That’s my one of my hobbies.

Indian classical singing is basically classical music. It’s not basically all about drums and guitars; it’s all about harmonium.

It’s kind of piano music. There are like multiple instruments on which we sing. It’s soft Indian music.

My grandparents were singing and humming all the time when I was small, then my even my dad loves singing. So I had this in my mind since I was a kid.

I used to hear them singing in a song. Then I was like, “Yeah, let’s try that.” I joined these classes back when I was in Grade 3 or 4.

There were, like, several gaps in my learning. I was in Grade 10 when I completed my fourth year.

Since then I did not pursue it anymore. To graduate in Indian classical music it’s pretty difficult because you have to complete seven years to get a degree.

I love how singing makes me feel. I feel calmed down, I feel light.

I’m a person who does not listen to these hard songs like rap and rock-pop. I am not into all of that. I’m just into listening to soothing music and soft music.

A person wearing a brown sweatshirt and glasses smiles and looks off to the side while standing in front of a lake, with a sailboat in the background.

Rear view of a person dressed casually with a backpack on waking toward a large Spirit Catcher artpiece in a park, with condo buildings in the background.

Naitik falls in love with all seasons of nature

My love of music kind of goes hand in hand with my love of nature.

So, if I’m sitting on a bench at Centennial Park beach in Barrie, or something like that, I can just put on my headphones and start listening to music.

It kind of gives me the same feeling of calm.

I came to Canada because of the opportunities here because there are so many big companies, like Google, Amazon, Rogers, and all of the world-class banks. Like, recently I got three or four interviews and I got into one of them.

But the thing I love about Canada is that there’s a lot of greenery, a lot of nature. I do not have this much greenery back in India.

A person with glasses and wearing a red poncho over their clothes, sits on a boat and smiles, with a waterfall in the background. — *Naitik at Niagara Falls.*

A person dressed in black coat, pants, hat and glasses, smiles for a photo in front of a tall tower. — *Naitik by the CN Tower.*

A person wearing a black jacket, yellow toque, and glasses smiles while leaning over a railing that overlooks a city at night. — *Naitik in downtown Toronto.*

I think I would love to visit Banff National Park in Alberta.

I’ve heard a lot about it because of the blue waters in the lake and these conical trees – pine trees.

So there’s a symmetry on the mountains with pine trees all over the mountain, and then on one side there’s blue lake with people just hiking around having their snacks on the way. That’s what I want to do in the near future.

I kind of like winter because of the snow. Like, people made snowmen outside their houses and then put a carrot for the nose. It’s so funny.

This summer, I have been to the all of these beaches and downtown Barrie. It’s so cute. They are, like, flowers hanging on the street lights, and people just walking around just enjoying their life.

There’s no hustle-bustle of the city. I love this life.

Naitik Talati, international student in Georgian’s Information Systems Security program.