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Atul Pandey

Magical Musicians – A salute to the legendary Anoushka Shankar & Jasleen Royal



There is great strength in vulnerability, as it takes courage to push through the fear and share one’s true self with others. In music, that vulnerability really speaks to listeners as it connects with their own hearts. As I was looking for an impactful opening for this post, these heartfelt words by the great sitarist Anoushka Shankar struck a tender chord in my heart. The divine connection of Anoushka with her audience reflects in her sitar playing as the notes of music touch one’s soul making it awash with a sense of gratitude & fulfillment. Despite being a daughter of the maestro and legendary Shri Pandit Ravi Shankar, she has managed to carve a distinct niche for herself with shining accomplishments one cannot imagine in a single lifetime.

A British-Indian-American sitar player, producer, film composer and activist. She was the youngest and first woman to receive a British House of Commons Shield; had 7 Grammy Awards nominations and was the first Indian musician to perform live and to serve as presenter at the ceremony. She performs across multiple genres and styles – classical and contemporary, acoustic and electronic.


We look forward to many more masterpieces to be crafted by Anoushka and her own saying that “I really am a fan of combining worlds in my own life” describes our next idol to the core. Yes! None other than Jasleen Royal who is an amalgam of many worlds as a songwriter, composer who sings in Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati as well as in English. She won an award for the Best Indie Song at the MTV Video Music Awards India 2013 and for the “Best Indie Artist” at “Free The Music” an initiative by Songdew especially for Indie musicians. She has sung and composed many Bollywood numbers to her credit. Jasleen puts musical soul to the crazy ideas she conceives spontaneously without any planning and this adds a flavourful punch to her music. With no formal training in music, majorly self-taught, Jasleen made her mark in IGT, 2009 because of her ability to play multiple instruments at the same time. She was amicably called as the ‘one woman band’ by the then judges for she can collectively play the guitar, mouth organ, flute and a tambourine while singing. Now that’s crazy isn’t it.


The only common factor in both Jasleen and Anoushka is that these two remarkable women have shaken the traditions and gone beyond the norms to create music from other worlds. These two legends continue to awe and inspire millions and FBSoM salute the vigor & craziness they bring to the world of music and wish them best of music and accolades. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoushka_Shankar

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