Garg regains her musical rhythm

Auckland sitarist Shalu Garg looks forward to her first performance in Gisborne. Picture suppplied

Meet sitarist Shalu Garg  who looks to join forces with tabla maestro Manjit Singh during Tairāwhiti’s first Indian Classical Music and Folk Songs event next month.

She hails from the Indian captial, Delhi, and started learning the sitar (plucked string instrument) from ShriAnil Dhar ji when she was eight years old.

“I learned for four years and then had to stop sitar and all other extracurricular activities since I only managed to pass my year eight exams,” Garg said.

“After that I did not touch the sitar for about 37 years.”

However, she got back her “musical rhythm” and back to learning the instrument around 2014, when she was 47.

Garg recalls being out of practice and starting her search for a new teacher when she moved to New Zealand.

“I was struggling to find a sitar teacher in Aotearoa until I managed to get in touch with my current guruji Shri Jagdeep Singh Bedi ji from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in New Delhi.

“It was in August 2017 when this all happened and that’s where I started developing a deeper interest and enchantment in this beautiful instrument and I haven’t looked back since.”

To her credit, Garg has performed in Auckland’s “diwali Mela” for the past five years and also performed for other events such as the Rotary fundraising and a few others at Dorothy Winston in Auckland as well.

The Indian Classical Music and Folk Songs event is organised by the Tair`awhiti Multicultural Council and is made possible through funding received from the Ministry of Ethnic Communities and Ministry of Social Development.

This free event is being held on Saturday July 1 from 4pm to 7pm. Free dinner and refreshments will be available.