Background
Mishra was born in New Jersey to Indian parents. Her father, a software engineer, has roots in West Bengal and lived in Chennai before moving to the United States, while her mother is from Delhi.[2] Later, the family moved to Toronto, Canada, before moving to Florida.[6][2] Mishra was interested in music from a young age, and her parents enrolling her in piano lessons and encouraged her to perform in local communities starting at the age of five.[7][8]
Her musical influences include artists such as Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, and Whitney Houston.[9][10] Mishra watched online tutorials to learn songs on her own. A video of her singing Sia's "Cheap Thrills" at the age of two years and nine months was captured by her father on his YouTube channel.[6][7][11]
The song "How Far I'll Go" from the Disney movie Moana inspired Mishra.[2] After hearing the song, she started rehearsing it constantly, which led to her participation in singing competitions and community events. By the summer of 2020, Mishra participated in the Tailgate Talent Show in Toronto, where she was the youngest contestant to sing, write songs, and play piano.[6] At just five years old, she performed "Into the Unknown" from Frozen 2 on stage in front of an audience of a few hundred people.[6][8]