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California musical brings Indian Americans together for unity
The gathering featured a performance by Afghan American rabab maestro Qais Essar and Sikh American musician Sonny Singh.
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Staff Reporter
- Mon, 09, Jun 2025
- 16:03 EDT
- 34
Artists performing at the event / Image Courtsey: Gajal Gupta
The India House Foundation and the India Community Center hosted a musical gathering on June 7 bringing together over 200 people to promote the message of unity.
Titled, “SANGAT: A Musical Gathering of Spirit, Unity, and Resistance,” the event spotlighted multiculturalism and the preservation of cultural identity as vital pillars for sustaining democracy in a time of increasing polarization.
Also Read: Diaspora groups to host musical gathering in California
It featured a performance by Afghan American rabab maestro Qais Essar and Sikh American musician Sonny Singh, joined by cellist Roziht Eve and tabla player Jujhar Singh. Their collaborative project, Sangat, draws on centuries-old Sikh, Sufi, and Bhakti musical traditions and spiritual poetry to promote a message of cross-cultural unity and resistance.
Audience at the event / Image Courtsey: Gajal Gupta“SANGAT was more than a performance—it was a gathering of spirit, resistance, and unity,” said Nida Hasan, executive director of the India House Foundation. “In a world increasingly divided by fear, Qais and Sonny reminded us that music can be a radical act of remembrance, healing, and solidarity.”
Singh said the project was a response to the rise of authoritarianism and exclusionary politics in both India and the United States. “Authoritarians rely on those at the margins to disengage from civic participation. It’s our responsibility to organize our communities and stay engaged for real democracy.”
He added that the vision of a multicultural, secular India is under threat, citing efforts to marginalize Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Dalits, Bahujans, and Adivasis. “Like the MAGA movement in the United States, they use fear as a tactic to gain more power and control.”
Reflecting on the event, Singh said he was moved by the response from the community. “I was deeply moved by the turnout and warm reception from a wide cross section of the diaspora. It’s a beautiful thing to come together across religious and regional lines to explore our shared ancestral wisdom through music. One of my goals as a musician is to bring people together and challenge injustice, and tonight’s event felt like a perfect way to do that,” he said.
The evening concluded with a community dialogue led by Hasan about the role of multiculturalism in defending democratic values. “When people from different backgrounds come together to listen and learn from each other, it helps break down prejudice and fosters solidarity,” she said.
According to Singh and Essar’s project overview, Sangat aims to “obliterate musical, political, and religious boundaries”—using artistic expression as a means of collective resistance and civic engagement in a time of deepening divides.
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