Faqeera

Growing up in a village in rural Sindh, Shamu Bai was classically trained from an early age and by the time she was barely seven, she started singing traditional devotional songs (called bhajans). Despite growing up as one of the nine siblings, Shamu and her younger brother Vishnu were the only two that had an incomparable vocal prowess as well as a passion to pursue it more seriously. Arjun, their father who dreamt of singing himself didn’t have the voice, and so he decided to pass on every ounce of knowledge that he had to his two children.

At 21, Shamu’s voice conveys an acute sense of intimacy which is forceful and emotive. Whereas Vishnu, 14, who only properly started training two years ago has a strong earthy tone of delivery, which is both raw and moving when heard by the listener.

The brother-sister duo, who perform live sets at weddings and local festivals featuring Vishnu on dholak and Shamu Bai taking center stage with vocals and harmonium, are all set for their debut appearance on Coke Studio Explorer.