BHAWNA ATMARAM
On Wednesday 26th September 2018, in front of a packed audience at Trianon Convention Centre, Sitar Virtuoso Anoushka Shankar touched the heartstrings of Mauritius. Together with her collaborators, she drummed home a myriad of powerful emotions, sending goosebumps through her trancelike performance, based from contemporary fusion tracks from her cross-genre album entitled ‘Land of Gold’. Just like a perfect spice recipe, Shankar’s instrumental pieces had the right mix of Oriental and Occidental influences. The harmony was mind-blowing. The rhythm sent shockwaves, touching the core of everyone present. Her magical fingers enthralled the audience, moving faster and faster as the climax of each track was reached.
Definitely, a new milestone has been set in the field of music, which can only augur good vibes for artists and music lovers. Through her music, Shankar connects the world, bringing together artists from all over the globe on the same platform with the same aim of uniting people. This is a crucial message that is being sent; we belong to the human race at the end of the day. Anything else is inconsequential. Indeed, along with Anoushka Shankar were present Tom Farmer from the UK who delighted us with his keyboard and acoustic bass performance, Manu Delago from Austria who amazed us with the percussion instrument, the hang as well as the electronic drums and Sanjeev Shankar from India who touched the souls of the audience with his ‘Shehnai’. Of course, how can we forget our own local fusion artist, the unique Eric Triton who performed in the first part of the concert and left us mesmerised?
‘Land of Gold’ wishes to translate the voices of the voiceless, of the refugees who want to make themselves heard. Their ordeals and struggles are laid bare but that note of hope is also forcefully present, to make us believe that something can and should be done. ‘Land of Gold’ superbly highlights the universality of music, of ‘breaking walls’ as Shankar herself said, during her address to the audience. Beyond the bewitching performance of the artists, the wisdom of their message will live on. This is the real legacy of music.
