Singer Vatsala Mehra
I was only into the second year of my now inordinately long journalistic career when my senior colleague Sidharth Bhatia at the Free Press Journal assigned me my first feature story ever. It was about ghazal singer Vatsala Mehra. On my return to the office after interviewing her at her opulent Pali Hill apartment in Bombay, Sidharth asked me what I thought of her. Her voice is mellifluous was what I said and how I described it in my story. That she was attractive I told Sidharth offline.
Vatsala and I caught up nearly as many years later via Facebook, she in Washington D.C. and I in Chicago. I placed a quick call to her early last year and was greeted by the same voice, only a little deeper. She was as effusive about her singing as she was then. In fact, she was on her way to a concert tour of India last year.
Now she is yet again performing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of ‘Maximum India’ celebration between March 1 and 20. This is a signature event where 500 Indian artists will treat audiences to all things Indian. It is only fitting that Vatsala will be one of those 500 artists, having pursued ghazal, sufi, thumri and geet for a long time with unceasing passion.
If you happen to be in D.C. March 8 I suggest you attend her performance at 8 p.m. at the Eisenhower Theater. And if you don’t happen to be in D.C. I suggest you do happen to be there. She sings as if she is fundamentally happy with herself. When a singer does that it transmits to her audience.