Adnan Sami: My children will be born Indian, and I'd never want them to take it for granted

Adnan Sami's fans on Saturday were excited about the singer-composer performing in the capital after four years. But Adnan himself received a little kick of excitement at his newly-acquired Indian citizenship earlier in the day, when he was landing in Delhi. Before his first concert since becoming an Indian citizen, the formerly-Pakistani singer told us how, despite having lived in India for so many years, finally being a citizen has had a 'tremendous impact' on him.
Has life changed at all after you got your Indian citizenship in January?
I think it has had a tremendous psychological sense of being' if there's any better way of putting it.To explain, for example, this morning, I was flying in from Munich, Germany. I was landing in Delhi and the steward said, sir, here you go. I asked, what is this? He said, it's a form for non-Indian nationals. I said (waving dismissively), I don't need it. And I felt incredible about it! It's these little kicks I'm getting that people take for granted.
Like recently, I was in Goa. I've been to Goa umpteen times. But when I looked at Goa this time, after receiving my citizenship, I thought, beautiful place' and it belongs to me, and I belong to it! I'm looking at everything with a sense of ownership. Earlier, I used to admire Goa, it's a beautiful place, and now the added sentence is, 'it's a beautiful place, and it belongs to me, and I belong to it'. It's like you admire someone else's house, and then it's yours. It's that feeling that's incredible.
Is that sense of belonging heightened in Delhi, where the ceremony took place?
Delhi is very special ' this is where my life took a major turn. This is not a small thing. I can never overproject it because of what it means to me. For example, there's an Indian flag at the airport. I was crossing it this morning, looking at it ' it was a beautiful morning ' and I said to myself, one day I'm gonna tell my kids, there's one hell of a story behind that! Inshallah, they'll be born Indian. But they don't know how it happened. And I'd never want them to take it for granted.

Your children will have a very long ethnic description ' Indian-German children of Pakistani-Afghan descent (his wife, Roya, is a German of Afghan origin)
They will have this multiple ethnicity, but at the end of the day' the divide of India is only 1947. So you get only those ethnicities generalised here ' they'll be desi-German kids.
But their mother is also extremely desi. She loves her biryanis and all that! We were in Germany recently, and suddenly, she tried to cut a corner while she was driving. The German driving test is very difficult, it's like getting a doctorate. And she did that, and I said, ah, the Indianness is now coming into you!
How is it that you haven't performed in the capital in four years ' was it just chance?
I think it was just chance ' just one of those things where it has been delayed for a long time. Frankly, I didn't even realise it was four years, it was only when someone pointed it out' like when I picked up one of those papers and it said Adnan performing after four years, I was like, four years! It was just one of those things.
Listen to the songs of Adnan Sami on Gaana.com