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Indian singing siblings thrill South Africans
South African Indians braved cold and wet weather to attend the performance of a sibling music group.
A large number of South African Indians, mainly the Gujarati community in Johannesburg, braved unusually cold and wet weather to attend the performance here of a sibling music group of three sisters and a brother from India.
Shobana Rao and Troupe have travelled all over the world under the auspices of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, which also brought them to South Africa for a two-week tour of major cities.
"We found the audiences very encouraging, perhaps because we have a wide repertoire and were catering to every section of the audience," Rao told IANS after their final performance here.
"From film numbers to ghazals and songs related to the Holi festival season currently being celebrated by various organisations here, South African audiences really seemed to like the beat and the rhythm. The moment we started a song with a strong beat, members of the audience would start clapping along and even dancing in the aisles."
"Elsewhere in the world, people are generally less responsive, even though they appreciate the performance, and would be more quiet, but in South Africa they responded emotionally and sometimes in an uninhibited way to show their appreciation, which was very nice for us."
Rao said the group had tailored most of their shows in South Africa to the needs of the people after finding their preferences during the initial performances.
"I found that even the older people did not like the slow, dull numbers. Even they preferred something which, even while it had a lot of emotion in the lyrics, had a good rhythm as well."
Rao said she, younger sister Shaila Hattangadi, elder sister Nirmala Jiashankar and brother Arun Gulwadi had all been initially trained by their mother, a classical singer, before continuing their training with other teachers.
"Shaila is in Mumbai; I'm in Delhi and Nirmala is the wife of a diplomat, so she travels the world all the time. Occasions like this are the rare times when we get together."
Rehearsals are not an issue despite the distances between their homes.
"We do our own individual rehearsals as soon as something comes up, and then we come together whenever there is a big concert and prepare for it. We are a very close family and we understand each other very well, and that's a great asset."
Indian Consul-General Suresh Goel, who hosted the group during their stay here, said the light classical style of the group was probably easier to understand, which is why it went down so well with the audience.
"The troupe creates a mood so well with their singing, that one does not need to understand the words, but follow the rhythm to appreciate it."
