Wishing you a Happy New Year! May 2026 give you the opportunity to be more involved in Arts & Culture. Contributing to a more meaningful and empathetic society. Before we head towards the excitement for this year I humbly ask for a few minutes to look back, because we concluded 2025 with nice press coverage.
But before looking back….
EU and India signed the Mother of all deals during the EU-India summit (25-27 January 2026): a free trade agreement, PM Modi called the deal the “biggest free trade deal in history”. This deal will intensify the relationship between the European continent and the largest democracy in the world. “India has risen. When India succeeds, the world is more stable, more prosperous and more secure, and we all benefit,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her state visit to India.
The EU leader was the chief guest this year at the Republic Day Celebrations. The side effect of this partnership will also impact the Arts & Culture community and the diaspora living in the EU. It’s now going to be a highly interesting time to analyse the news to see how the Western media will be portraying India as a country and its leaders in the media. My two cents is that the tone of voice will be far more accurate now then it was before. Backed with quotes that represent plural perspectives.
This brings me to our achievements last year. The aim is to present narratives that are not heard broadly in the Dutch media regarding the diaspora community.
One of those highlights was being featured in the book 50 Jaar Srefidensi – Portretten en Verhalen over Suriname, a publication that reflects on Suriname’s history through powerful personal stories. This book features the various communities of the Surinamese diaspora, their dreams, ambitions and their thoughts on 50 years of independence. I’m honoured to be one of those 50 voices and my aim is to keep building bridges between communities through music and stories.
Continuing with “Baithak Gana” the folk music of the Sarnami-Hindustani’s, making it an essential part of the Dutch musical heritage. “Music is everywhere. In how people live, come together, express themselves, and recognize themselves in each other”, states researcher Miles Philip Niemeijer.
Over the past months, he conducted important research for the KB nationale bibliotheek (Royal Library) on how written and digital music sources shape our cultural memory and how easily they can disappear.
Through extensive field research, Niemeijer spoke with researchers and lecturers, music journalists and authors, archivists and librarians, creators and artists, programmers and practitioners, community representatives, policymakers, and critical thinkers about the role of these sources, what their disappearance means for our cultural memory, and what role a national library can play in this process.
My humble contribution to this research is in my role as cultural programmer bringing in perspectives from a lived practice and community-based music traditions and the importance of preserving this music-genre as part of the Dutch cultural heritage.
“Baithak Gana lyrics contain stories about migration, loss, women’s emancipation, and hope. If you don’t record them, a whole part of our history will disappear.” – Mahesvari Autar (Verloren Geluiden, Geschreven Bronnen, Page 64)
We concluded our December month with one of India’s greatest poets, Kabir. The sentence ‘Moko Kahaa Dhunde Re Bande, Mein To Tere Paas Mein’ was featured in the ‘Zin van de Dag’ podcast by philosopher and author Stine Jensen (Human).
Kabir’s poem “Why do you search for me outside?”, points out that divinity exists within human consciousness, breath, and lived experience. Basically he states that every day is a holy day and it’s upon us to make it the best day possible. Vocals Shivani Ramcharan, accompanied by Kries Malhoe on guitar and Vinayak Ramcharan on cajon.
January 2026 was a change-defining month on many levels: personal, professional and all in between. The power of the world order has changed as we haven’t seen in decades and between all turmoil fans of Arijit Singh were shocked to read his statement that he is retiring from playback singing.
Arijit Singh, who was never part of the glitter and glamour of Bollywood therefore his bold choice does not surprise me at all. In fact, it’s now time for him to explore his own music, his own authentic voice. Not led by monetary gains, but with artistic freedom and I believe the best music that we will hear from him is yet to come. Vocalist Sona Mohapatra made an Instagram post sharing her thoughts on Singh’s retirement. The Hindi film playback industry will have a temporary void, but India is filled with vocal talents who all crave for a spotlight. It’s just a matter of time that a new voice will be hailed as the next icon of the global music industry. In the meantime fans of Arijit Singh have to sit tight and wait… he shall return!
With Love,
Mahesvari