On a rainy Saturday evening - audience members were treated to a performance of sublime talent and skill as Anuradha Pal and her band Stree Shakti performed for Shishukunj London’s inaugural concert at its newly renovated premises in Edgware. On stage alongside Anuradha was Hindustani vocalist – Sharvari Vaidya, Kanjira player – Krishnapriya Rambha and Keyboardist – Tushar Raturi.
Anuradha is the disciple of tabla legends – late Ustad Alla Rakha and Ustad Zakir Hussein – and she is hailed as the first professional female table player by the Encyclopedia Britannica.
At times the performance left goose-bumps on the skin. In particular, the finale was breath-taking which saw the team take the audience on a tour of the different musical styles of India. The audience erupted when Sharvari started to sing some famous Gujarati folk songs before finishing with a rendition of Vande Mataram.
After the concert was over Anuradha said “I enjoyed performing at Shishukunj very much, in particular the intimacy with the audience created a wonderful atmosphere.”
Jagdeep Shah, one of the organisers from Shishukunj said, “this concert is a great example of why we have invested so much in renovating the Shishukunj Bhavan. For me the best part was the fact that our young children were sat on the floor right in front of some of India’s biggest artists – they would not get the same opportunity anywhere else”.
For more information about Shishukunj – please visit www.shishukunj.org.uk
