The daily grind from one end of Mumbai to another in a crowded local train is occasionally met with a popular Bollywood tune sung in a rustic voice or played on an instrument. Among the weary, the stressed, the impatient and, very often, irritable commuters, many find a rupee or two to spare but a kind word is hard to come by.
Bearing their harmoniums, the one-string ektara they call sarangi and the tambourine they call “dafli” or just “duff”, and mostly hailing from humble homes on the outskirts, these musicians found each other in 2012 through Swaradhar — a troupe put together by 24-year-old Hemlata Tiwari, a resident of Andheri, now studying management in Delhi.
Today, they have performed “around 200 shows” across Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, Goa and Indore, playing at Ganpati pandals, weddings and birthdays — even appearing on TV talent shows. The change that came about has also included the first air journey, a YouTube channel, respect and confidence.
Read more of this interesting story in a report by Neeraj Tiwari and Mayura Janwalkar published in The Indian Express...
