Latest UpdatesArt & CraftA New Delhi-based musician comes to rescue Manganiyar tradition in Rajasthan

A New Delhi-based musician comes to rescue Manganiyar tradition in Rajasthan


Let’s meet a young musicologist based in New Delhi, Ayesha Vasdev, who after being a DJ, became the founder trustee of  Sangeetcar, an organisation dedicated to archiving, reviving and preserving the intangible cultural heritage of folk music in India. Ayesha is supporting the Manganiyar tradition in Rajasthan in diverse ways…

By Harsh Vardhan

A drop in the ocean matters! That is what has happened with the Manganiyar community in the Thar Desert through this young musicologist based in New Delhi, Ayesha.  

Chanan Khan, one of the Manganiyar artist, could not play his instrument called Surmandal as it was inoperative. Ayesha not only fixed it but also offered him with an additional instrument. Such folk instruments are made in villages and are nowhere available for sale-purchase.  

A New Delhi-based musician comes to rescue Manganiyar tradition in Rajasthan
Chanan Khan with Surmandal

At 31, she has spent long sessions in the desert to understand how the folk tradition is surviving despite pangs and pathos of economic strains in lives of folk musicians. She offered them stage at New Delhi and also flown some artists to Japan for an India Show.  

Speaking on how she supports the cause of Manganiyaar tradition, Ayesha says, “We do so by recording the songs in the highest possible audio-video resolution and by creating an online and real time presence for the artist” she told EB&W Media.  

A New Delhi-based musician comes to rescue Manganiyar tradition in Rajasthan

Ayesha’s great grandfather, Sir Brijnath Singh was an avid patron of Maihar Music. He and Baba Allaudin Khan Sahab together created what we refer to as the Maihar Gharana of classical music. Her maternal grandmother’s father Moti Singh Mahida is also known as the father of Gujarati Poetry. His poems are still an integral part of Gujarati literature, giving him the title of the Pearl of Gujarat.  

She spent a year under the tutelage of Holger Jetta learning about western classical music and composition. She attended the Alchemea College in London to pursue a diploma in Sound Engineering. There she worked with the reputed Abbey Road Studios and was exposed to a multitude of genres in music.  

She had become a DJ at the age of 17. Whilst DJing, she attended A. R. Rahman’s music academy – KMMC in Chennai and did a foundation course in western classical music. She has worked with companies like GAIL, Rock it, Dineout and so on.  

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