MUMBAI: Do you recognise Mythili Iyengar 'Hey Ram' or Aditi Verma 'Monsoon Wedding'? Here's another clue. The voice behind 'Rabba Rabba' (Aks), 'Shakalaka Baby' (Nayak), 'Door se Paas' (Musafir) and 'Pappu Can't Dance' (Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na). We don't want to leave you guessing. That is the versatile Vasundhara Das for you, known for her singing and acting skills, which has helped her carve a niche in tinsel town. Currently contributing her vocal talent for The Shah Hussain Project Vol 2, with Mir Mukhtiyar Ali, Vasundhara adds flavours and textures to Shah Hussain's poetry. In her calm and sultry voice that personifies her nature, Vasundhara lets Radioandmusic.com be privy to the unexplored side as we feature her in the section of Rendezvous.

The Indian music scene in Bangalore is really nice with a lot of artistes seeing the daylight and new talents mushrooming. This obviously brings in the paucity of places to perform. Also an artiste cannot perform in one place for a number of times since the crowd will also lose their excitement. The process of building up platforms is on, but it is slow.

When asked about what she does in her leisure time, the beautiful singer revealed that her recent discovery was that she is compatible with the kitchen and actually can cook. She likes to experiment with soups and tries a variety of them. "When I travel abroad, I experiment with soups a lot. Other than that I am not too picky. I like the 'daal-chawal' type of nutritious food as well as other varieties," said Vasundhra.

Owing to her busy schedules, seldom does she get 'me-time'. "My idea of a time out is taking long drives away from the city, away from the chaos," said the proud owner of Bose headphones.

Vasundhra does not read too much, unless the fiction and reality are in the proportion. Some of her favourites include Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and the Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi. "I like them as they are very relatable- in the time we are living in, everyone needs a logical explanation. Since my childhood, I have always tried to find logic behind my grandma's mythological stories. And through books, I found a way to put it into a very different perspective," exclaimed Vasundhra. She wishes to catch up with Stand-Up Comedy shows as it is an

upcoming art form.
Being huge movie buff she enjoys everything in Bollywood. Her all time favourite movie is Big Night by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci. She likes watching foreign language movies and documentaries as language has never been a barrier for her.

The singer knows a host of languages including Hindi, English, Kannada, Tamil and a bit of Spanish. She also understands Sanskrit which has helped her comprehend Bengali and Malayalam. "I feel that the reason I understand languages is because it is a combination of two things: (a) the fact that I have been learning Sanskrit for so long and (b) I feel some people really have an affinity to languages and I am one of them. It is inexplicable. Tamil of course does not have its roots in Sanskrit," said the 35 year old.

Talking about her style quotient, she said, "Fashion, I think it is very unique to every individual. I am trouser person and feel very comfortable in them. A few years back, I developed a fondness for dresses and wore them everywhere. My taste changes from time to time."

Vasundhra likes writing songs over poetries as music connects with her more than literature. This is why she does not maintain a personal blog. "The only blog I have ever written is called Junoon. I wrote it as an inaugural blog for IIT Kanpur E-Cell. I guess I am just saving all of my incredible experiences for when I write a book! I have been invited to be a jury member on BlogAdda Awards, though. That's happening end of September," mentioned the Das.

For her spirituality is a state of mind. It is all about being comfortable with yourself and the kind of choices one makes and with who he/she is. "Spirituality is very subjective." she says. "Personally, I believe it is about being honest with yourself and truthful about the thoughts which even includes adjusting yourself with people around."

She does not meditate. "Music is my meditation. For me spirituality is associated with music. I mean, we are privy to this special world of music it becomes almost a special world to you. You can call it spirituality, meditation or riyaaz. It can only come to somebody who has understood the creation of music," revealed Das.

She also loves travelling and has toured around Europe and North America. "There are some places you go for work and afew places that you go for yourself," she articulated. Places that she visited for herself include countries like China, Peru, Columbia and Spain and she feels lucky to have witnessed new places sceneries.
Shows like coke studio, sound trippin and sound trek were initiated 10 years ago with Channel V Jamming. Similar platforms are being provided right now, where artistes come together, collaborate and make music while the whole thing is shot and televised. "I did a track on that called "Tide" with Ashu n' Dhruv. Then I began my own collaborative journey and I do not feel the need for it to be televised," she concluded.

(Radioandmusic.com has been constantly trying to innovate and provide readers with the best information about the goings-on in the industry. We are happy to introduce the special section titled 'Musical Rendezvous'. The objective: delve deeper into the minds of senior professionals from the radio and music industries, to understand trends and developments and get other insights about the way forward. A big ‘thank you’ to all for supporting this endeavour- giving our reporters time and knowledge- so we can share it with our readers).