Music to the Ears

An explosive performance by British-Tamil singer Susheela Raman and guitarist Sam Mills was the toast of the festival. The two collaborated with Ghulam Hussain and his qawwals from Ajmer,besides other Rajasthani folk artistes on rare instruments like algoza and narh. Raman,who sang in Tamil,displayed her vast repertoire,encompassing everything from Carnatic to jazz,to blues and trance. “It’s lovely when music can merge like this and create something beautiful,” said Raman,known for her evocative number in Mira Nair’s The Namesake.

Feisty Flamenco

Dancers took over the festival on the penultimate night. Two flamenco dancers kept beat to catchy guitar riffs,before a kalbeliya dancer matched steps with them. The guitarists were joined by Rajasthani folk singers. The electric atmosphere even had the festival’s patron Maharaja Gaj Singh shaking a leg with the dancers.

Morning Raga

A rudra veena recital by Ustad Bahauddin Dagar played to a packed audience at the Jaswant Thada on day four. As Dagar played morning ragas like Lalit and Bhairavi,a growing number of foreigners joined the audience,despite partying the night before at Club Mehran (a venue inside the Meherangarh fort).