Rakshabandhan: Siblings who fight only backstage and bond over spirituality on stage

On Raksha Bandhan, Backstage Siblings Raghav and Prachi Agarwal talk sibling squabbles, leaving corporate jobs and finding spiritual harmony through music.

For the regulars at bhajan sandhyas in the city, the brother-sister duo Raghav and Prachi Agarwal are a name they would certainly be aware of. They jam together onstage as Backstage Siblings, but come rakhi and they forget their differences — creative and otherwise — because that’s what the festive feels like! “We’ve not spent one Rakhi apart we always make sure we’re together,” says Prachi, adding, “Raksha bandhan has always been my favourite festival as I feel it’s my annual fixed income, even before I started working or before I started performing together with Raghav!”

Brother-sister duo Raghav and Prachi Agarwal jam together onstage as Backstage Siblings.

Though now they travel together for shows and celebrate most life’s moments in transit, the duo shares that offstage they are like any other pair of siblings, bickering over the smallest of things. “But the moment we step on stage, our rivalry melts into a deep, spiritual harmony,” says Raghav, who is gearing up to perform in the city on September 5. But today, he says, it’s all about Rakshabandhan and celebrating their unusual bond. Meanwhile, Prachi, 23, who is the younger of the two laughs and adds, “We keep fighting over everything. Before our shows, before we step on stage, we fight all the time. That’s why our manager is more into controlling both of us than managing us.” And Raghav, 26, agrees adding: “Before Backstage Siblings, we are siblings. Right from the colour of our outfits to the choice of songs, siblings don’t really need a reason to fight!”

However, that chaos vanishes as music infuses harmony in their sibling rivalry. “Music and spirituality serve as our ultimate anchor. So when on stage, no matter whatever fight was happening before, we sing bhajans together and forget about everything,” shares Prachi. Raghav adds, “If you see, there’s an unusual connect between Prachi and me on stage where we understand each other without speaking. That happens because of years of singing and also how we have been enjoying spirituality together much before we took to performing.”

It’s widely known how Raghav and Prachi, both, quit their corporate finance jobs a year and a half ago to pursue music full-time. But, as it goes, one had to break the news to their parents so that’s when being the elder bro Raghav took up the “responsibility”. He jokingly recounts: “I left my job first and then a year later made Prachi quit hers too. But our parents are very supportive. They understood and here we are strengthening our bond and bhajan jamming too.”