Hyderabad’s Mahindra University to host first edition of Roots

The first edition of Roots, a student-led cultural initiative of Mahindra Group, will debut in Hyderabad on November 22 at Mahindra University. The one-day festival will feature performances by contemporary and folk artistes — The Raghu Dixit Project, Swarathma, Alif, Hamza Rahimtula and Rajasthan Folkstars, Gotte Kanakavva, and Arko and Friends featuring Gaboo.

The Hyderabad edition follows similar festivals in other cities such as the Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai and the Mahindra Kabira Festival in Varanasi.

Representing Telangana at Roots will be 65-year-old folk icon Gotte Kanakavva who hails from an agriculture background and is recognised for preserving and highlighting the Bathukamma song tradition. 

Yajulu Medury, vice chancellor of the university, describes Roots as an inter-collegiate festival that has been in the making for some time: “The students took on the role of cultural entrepreneurs and were actively involved in selecting the artists. This involved research, discussions, and voting, to ensure that the festival represents the students’ interests and India’s rich musical legacy.”

Jay Shah, vice president – cultural outreach, Mahindra Group, seconds that and adds, “We have aimed for ethnic, geographic and artistic diversity.”

For Raghu Dixit, Hyderabad is not a new destination for a performance. “The crowd there is always ready to sing along,” he says. He observes that while certain favourite numbers remain the same across the country, when a Telugu song is performed, the Hyderabad audiences respond by singing along “with full power”.

Having performed in other editions of the Mahindra festival, Raghu Dixit recalls, “Last time I had curated a collaborative showcase with two wonderful folk artists. The audience energy was amazing, and sharing the stage with artists from across India felt like a big, beautiful cultural potluck.” From Raghu Dixit Project, expect songs from the album Shakkar and old favourites.

Raghu Dixit Project
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Special Arrangement

Band Swarathma, known to present a mix of folk, rock, and storytelling, is looking forward to engaging the audiences with stories from real incidents and observations. Says Jishnu Dasgupta of Swarathma, “When we share stories with belief and conviction, we have noticed how it resonates with people.” He is eager to perform at Roots and says, “We will be sharing the stage with an exciting line up of artistes and we will present older favourites and songs from our upcoming album. It will be interesting to see how the young audiences vibe with our numbers.”

Vasu Dixit of Swarathma says the audiences have mostly been familiar with their songs and hence, receptive to their performances. He recalls rare corporate events where the audience were a mix of enthusiastic listeners who knew their work and others who were not familiar with their songs. “In such cases, we spot people who are connecting with our music, gauging their body language, and build the energy from there to create a ripple effect.”

Having performed several times in Hyderabad in the last decade, members of Swarathma state that the audiences know their music and are open-hearted and encouraging, perhaps because fewer concerts are held in Hyderabad compared to the larger metros. Jishnu sums up, “This city also has the greatest biryani in the world, so it doesn’t hurt to perform here.”