MUSIC'S HOMECOMING

This Delhi couple is reviving the age-old tradition of baithaks with 'Upstairs With Us', an intimate home concert series where Indian classical music finds a home in their living room

- ADITHI REENA AJITH

UKANYA Banerjee moves through the crowd in her living room with ease — part host, part friend, part stage manager, she greets her guests warmly while juggling introductions and her two curious pups. Somehow, everyone knows her. Meanwhile, her husband Tejas Jaishankar is in the kitchen, brewing tea. He enthusiastically offers it to those who have gathered.

One by one, people enter the living room, and choose their spot on the floor. The pups weave in between the guests like they belong — because they do. Soon, the rhythms of a sarangi ripple softly through the space, accompanied by tabla beats. As the last guests trickle in, the lights dim and conversations hush — for the next few hours, Delhi's loud, rushed mood disappears. This isn't a concert hall. It's 'Upstairs with Us', an intimate, at-home concert series in the couple's Vasant Kunj apartment, where Indian classical music has found its home. In Hindi, baithak means "a sit-down gathering". It traditionally refers to informal performances in homes or courtyards, but the couple say they do it differently.

"Usually, baithaks are for people separated from you by, at the most, three degrees. But we've opened ours to strangers and fellow music lovers across the city," says Banerjee, inviting them to listen to how music is always meant to be—up close, unhurried, and shared.

Just listen The couple started the initiative, then called 'Evening Raag', in 2018, to create a paying audience that values classical musicians—emotionally and financially. "Our goal is to create an audience that's there to listen—not necessarily musicians themselves," says Jaishankar. After a pandemic pause, the home concerts returned as 'Upstairs with Us'.