A tattoo spiralling down her right arm. A silver stud piercing her chin. Oversized retro sunglasses covering half her face.

Meet Mohini Singh, former class teacher, IVB, Modern High School for Girls. Meet Carlyta Mouhini, musical powerhouse with Bollywood hits under her belt (in picture by Pabitra Das).

The familiar smile and the warm voice give it away — Mohini Singh is Carlyta Mouhini. “Oh god, these numerological people. But Carlyta, like Mouhini, means enchantress in Portuguese,” she says.

A lot has changed since 1992. Mouhini had then joined Modern High School for Girls as class teacher. She taught some 45 girls till 3 pm, studied thereafter in Loreto College, and then went on to spin tracks at Someplace Else as the first female DJ at The Park’s popular pub.

“It was like living a triple role, 24x7. It was lovely while it lasted. But that wasn’t really me. I was dying to get out of the routine and pursue music — my only love,” she recalls.

And so she did. After teaching for four years, and being part of a band (Trishul), Mouhini joined her parents, who were settled in Sao Paulo, and “lived the Latin culture”.

“The future perception of Bollywood had to be Latino and hip-hop and I went with my gut. I learned music and dancing before returning to India in 1999,” she shares.

Jingles, big Bollywood breaks in the form of Ishq chandi hai from Biwi No 1, the title track from N. Chandra’s Excuse Me, and lots of live shows later, confidence is something she does not lack. “I can do exactly what Madonna, JLo and Shakira can do on stage,” she smiles.

Sizzling at stage shows apart, Mouhini is now working on a couple of albums. She has roped in Tabul Sutradhar (music director of Joggers’ Park and No Entry) for her Hindi album Subah Ki Dhoop. “It has eight numbers, suiting each mood from dawn to dusk. It is an amalgamation of all that I have heard and loved,” she says.

so coming up is a Bengali album Roke Joto Chhele by Asha Audio. Ready for a November 15 release, each of the seven tracks has a Latino flavour and a title song video to its credit.