Stepping Across the Worry Lines

The Raghu Dixit Project launches a new album Shakkar as a vernacular statement about India and diversity

- By NOOR ANAND CHAWLA

It's a chilly evening in Delhi. The night sky looming above central Delhi's Purana Qila is clear, bathing the ancient monument in suffused, romantic light. A massive banyan tree on its vast grounds, perhaps as old as the monument, provides shelter to a throng of people, who are swaying and dancing with abandon. Their inspiration: lungi-clad members of the Bengaluru-based Raghu Dixit Project, belting out lively foot-tapping beats at the ASEAN India Music Festival 2024.

"When the whole world is fighting wars, we are celebrating each other in India," declares band headliner Raghu Dixit after completing his set. "It's a great way to honour other cultures and build human connections. Music is a universal language. It makes you realise that we are not very different from each other, so there's no point in these divisions between countries or communities," he adds.