Hindustan Times (Lucknow) - Hindustan Times (Lucknow) - Live
DELHI STREETS ARE A STAGE
A new generation of musicians and dancers have made public spaces their platform, utilising the freedom that it affords them
Have you spotted breakdancers at Khan Market or guitarists crooning at Connaught Place on a busy Friday night? If you have, then you’ve witnessed the newest generation of street artists who, much like the culture in cities such as New Orleans and London, have made Delhi streets their stage.
Street performers aren’t a new thing in the Capital — we’ve always had puppeteers, snake charmers, folk dancers and tightrope walkers — but these new generation artists are changing the way music and dance are brought to the masses. They are educated individuals, with formal training in various art forms. Their music and dance are of international genres.
They can be seen B-boying (breakdancing), playing soft jazz, singing popular tracks, and even shimmying to percussion beats. Karan Khamboj, a student of Delhi University, and his band Khoj take to various blocks around Connaught Place every other weekend and perform hit Bollywood tracks. “We formed our band in college and first performed when Raahgiri (the initiative of giving public spaces back to pedestrians) was really popular in CP. We received a very good response back then, so we started this as a regular thing from February this year. Our band now has a chance to perform in front of a live audience. Those who really like what we’re doing will stop by,” says Khamboj.
Aditi Veena, a musician we spotted at Khan Market, says that she has also performed in Sri Lanka and Nepal the same way. “The streets give you freedom to perform whatever you want to, and the response is still great,” she says. “I have a Tumblr blog, #streetsforus, named after our initiative, which seeks to redefine how art can be used as a vehicle to reclaim the streets.”