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Describe the atmosphere and live music at a local pub, restaurant, festival, church or temple, club night.... inspire other people to check it out!
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Musician: Indrani Bhattacharya
Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife Scotland
Instruments: voice
Music: North Indian classical / Bengali
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HOW I CAME TO THIS MUSIC听听听听听听听听听听WHERE I PLAY听听听听听听听听听听A FAVOURITE SONG |
  
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 听听Listen (4'36) to 'Oi Ujjvala Din' performed by Indrani Bhattacharya and Sangeet Mala, from their album, Painting the Earth (Sangeet Mala Productions)
听听Listen (1'58) to Indrani Bhattacharya talk about her music
"Music and dance keep me in touch with my culture. Through Sangeet Mala and through dancing I learn about what it's like back home in India"
How I came to this music
My mother actually trained on the sitar when she was 17 which is my age. She came to this country after she got married and got into singing. I've grown up with her singing and I've been surrounded by music and dancing, especially the North Indian classical dance Kathak. That eventually led me to Sangeet Mala. It's an Asian choir group, but everyone is welcome to join. We sing Bengali music, probably because most of the members of the choir are Bengali, but we sing Hindi and British music too.
I live in Kirkcaldy, in Fife, but we're originally from Calcutta, West Bengal in India. We go to India most summers. In India Bollywood is such a big thing that inevitably I was watching lots of Bollywood films, and I really enjoyed the soundtracks. The bulk of Bollywood music goes with dancing because it's so rhythmic and lavish. Then my taste matured! Gradually I began to listen to more classical tunes which led me to Bengali music which is more melodic and allows you do more with the actual tune.
 My mum's the lead singer and key motivator behind the choir. With everyone's help, we've managed to get it up and running. She modelled our choir on the Calcutta Youth Choir in India. She was intent on giving other people the opportunity to sing. Take me for instance, if I hadn't joined the choir, I'd never sing as much as I do. It's an ideal way to give people a flavour of the pure sound of Indian classical music which extends beyond the beats of Bollywood.
While I listen to and like lots of pop music, I'm really keen on the music of India. It's different and I like that diversity. Even though I've lived here in Scotland all my life, I don't want to lose my culture. Music and dance are probably the best way for me to stay in touch with my Indian identity. A simple song like 'Saraswati Vandana',the opening number in our Edinburgh Mela concert, tells of the Gods and that gives me a clearer picture of how it is back in India.
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