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The Indus Sings

A Candlelight Mother's Day Tribute in Shayari & Sufi Soul

Sunday, May 10 · 5:30 PM
Evergreen Cultural Centre · Coquitlam
Chai Reception · Candlelight Concert
Get Tickets — $30
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About the Evening
This Mother's Day, the Evergreen Cultural Centre invites you to an intimate, candlelit evening of classical poetry and music. The Indus Sings is a heartfelt tribute to motherhood expressed through the timeless traditions of Ghazal, Shayari, and Sufi devotional music — drawing on the deep artistic heritage of the Indus Valley.
"This is not a concert, although the word feels insufficient. It is a carefully composed encounter with love in its most enduring forms, expressed through poetic verse, classical cadence, and the devotional currents of Sufi sound."
Three intercultural artists come together on stage. Their combined artistry — spanning centuries of tradition and continents of influence — is itself a story of music as a bridge. Performed in Farsi, Urdu, and Hindi, woven with Spanish guitar and the pulse of tabla. Under candlelight, time slows. Attention sharpens. The audience is invited into a shared field of listening.
A Quick Guide to the Art Forms
For those new to these traditions
Shayari
/sha·yah·ree/
The original spoken word. Urdu poetry distilled into couplets that hit like the best lyrics you've ever heard. The audience responds in real time — "wah wah!" — when a line lands.
Ghazal
/guh·zul/
Every couplet is its own self-contained emotional universe — love, loss, longing. Imagine if every verse of a song could stand alone as its own perfect heartbreak.
Sufi Soul
Music designed to dissolve the boundary between you and something bigger. Vocals that build from a whisper to a crescendo that makes your chest vibrate.
Mehfil
/meh·fil/
Not a concert. A shared room where musicians and listeners feed off each other's energy. Music as conversation, not performance. The closest thing to a Baithak.
The Artists
Three voices. Three traditions. One evening.
Voice & Shayari
Vasundhara RoGan
Ghazal · Sufi · Bhakti · Farsi · Urdu · Hindi
The artistic heart of the evening. She performs at the intersection of literature and music — a rare space where Shayari and Sufi devotional music weave together. She doesn't merely perform poetry. She inhabits it.
A voice that moves so fluidly across languages and emotions, it turns a room full of strangers into a room that feels like home.
Tabla
Hriday Buddhdev
CBC's 30 Under 30 · Ali Akbar College · Coquitlam-born
The heartbeat of the evening. Started playing tabla at age four. Named one of CBC's 30 hottest classical musicians under 30. Born in Coquitlam — a heritage artist rooted in his community.
The tabla in his hands becomes a heartbeat that anchors the unfolding narrative, marking time while also dissolving it.
Spanish Guitar
Ehab Guitarrista
Flamenco · Jazz · Roma · Classical
The warm resonance of Spanish guitar enters into dialogue with Indian classical music — a pairing both unexpected and deeply harmonious. A living demonstration of how traditions speak to one another.
This is not fusion. It is conversation. Each tradition retains its integrity while listening deeply to the others.
The Evening Unfolds
5:30 PM
MAA Chai — Mother's Day Tea Reception
Chai and refreshments by Mirch Masala · Two community mothers honoured with flowers from the artists
6:30 PM
The Concert Begins
Candlelight · Shayari · Ghazal · Sufi Soul · Spanish Guitar · Tabla
7:45 PM
The Evening Closes
Community elder presents flowers to artists · You carry the music home
"In the cultural heartlands of the Indus, the idea of Maa transcends the biological — it is an embodiment of compassion, strength, sacrifice, and unconditional love."
— Nina Buddhdev, Curator · The Bandish Network
The Indus Sings
This is the kind of evening that deserves your full presence.
Sunday, May 10 · 5:30 PM
Evergreen Cultural Centre · Coquitlam
Chai reception · Candlelight concert · Community honouring
$30
Curated by Nina Buddhdev · The Bandish Network
Get Tickets
The Baithak The Bandish Network
Community Partner: The Baithak · Phone-free social events in Vancouver
@thebaithakca · thebaithak.ca