By Tanvi Girotra
In High School, everyone has that one special place they can call their second home. A place famous amongst geeks, artists, music lovers, athletes and loiterers alike. At my school, we had the Music Basement. For most of us lost souls, it was where we found our passion for music and eventually yet unknowingly, ourselves. Being the music and dance area, many legends are known to have walked those steps and transform their shrill voices into splendid baritones. Groups of squeaky kids have curled up quietly into the cosy corners of the basement on a particularly harsh winter morning, letting the sounds of strings fill them up and not left till the last bell. All these people with beautiful voices, magic in their fingers and a thirst for brilliance are now making a name for themselves all around the world. One such Music Basement survivor is Vasundhara Vidalur.
Now 25, and an established singer with her own Jazz band Adil and Vasundhara, Vasundhara is very well known amongst the Indian music circuit and has various International performances under her belt. I however met Vasundhara for the first time in a very different setting. I was 13, lost and overwhelmed by all the musical notes around me in the same Music Basement. She was practicing for a competition in the then shady looking Western Music room. As she opened her mouth to sing, a strange silence fell over the entire space. A new born entrant into the world of music, I didn’t know anyone could sound like that. It was unique, extremely peaceful and nothing like I had ever heard before.
Adil and Vasundhara’s musical spectrum spans Jazz Fusion, Funk, RnB, Blues and Gospel. When asked what music means to her, she answers, “It goes beyond the need to express or the lust for ‘getting heard’. You know something is meant for you when you are unable to dissociate with it. When there is absolutely no reason why you should want it, or love it….. or need it. And when such reasoning becomes a silly thing to try. It gets closer to you than your body really. There is a point when your art and you become the same entity. Till that point is reached, it is just a means to an end for a person who discovers an ability or talent in himself.”
But she wasn’t always a part of a band. “Before meeting Adil, I had been active in Artists Unlimited and was doing a fair amount of studio work as well.” she recounts. “My multiple attempts at working with people in a band failed miserably. I was looking for somebody who I got along with in the head. I had waited for over five years and was on the verge of giving up. Parallelly, Adil had been performing with many people for a decade but nothing had worked out long term. In Jan 2009, he was offered a show and decided to take an entirely new line up. A common friend gave him my number. Adil had imagined me to a middle aged, crisp sari clad, bindi-wearing lady who had been singing the blues for centuries. So he was fairly taken aback when we met. Ten minutes of playing together made it clear that this wouldn’t be just a one gig long project. We are in our fourth year now as a band.”
In addition to their collaborations with numerous well known solo artists and bands in Delhi, they have worked with musicians from Turkey, France, Spain, Germany, Bulgaria, Italy, Argentina, Brunei, the Reunion Islands, the USA and counting. One of Vasundhara’s most memorable performance also stems out of one of these International music tours. “Tout le Monde Chante Contre le Cancer. It’s a festival in the south of France. We assembled a dream band there. The show was great. It meant a lot to me too, cause I lost my grandpa to cancer. A day before our show, we did a tiny performance for a little girl who would only live for a couple of months. She knew it. It was life altering for me to sing happy birthday to her. It made us value life, what we do and what music can potentially do for others.”
Having studied at DPS RK Puram and then at LSR, Vasundhara has been born and brought up in Delhi. She thinks of Dilliwaalas as “Loud, brawny, aggressive, super foul mouthed, driven, passionate, opinionated, ALWAYS-on-the-move {Delhi is the only city that doesn’t slow down entirely during lunch hours!}, resourceful, cosmopolitan {yet racist}, competitive, tikka-eating, individualists.” Being a proud foodie she recommends Yeti in Hauz Khas Village and Pink Mango in GK2 for Frozen Yogurt.
Even though the Music Basement was unable to inculcate a lot of music sense into me, the atmosphere, the warm feeling and the fabulous people who frequented that place is definitely where my love for music comes from. And unknowingly so, Vasundhara has played a very important role there for countless people like me, who were or are trying to comprehend the magical land of Music.
Vasundhara is in our Little Black Book!
Beautifully captured, bringing back many many fond memories!
I can very confidently say, VV as I call her, does magic with her voice. Extremely talented and a down to earth soul. Kudos to VV and Adil! lots of hugs xoxoxo
Heyyyy!!!!! Thanks Rajiv !!!!!!!!!!!!! :)