There’s something about the sea that captivates Anoushka Shankar. When we sat down in the lounge of a Bandra five-star hotel, we caught the musician looking at the sea adoringly. That prompted our first question: as someone who has never lived in Mumbai, how does she describe her relationship with the city? “I used to live in Delhi. But since I stopped living there, Mumbai has been the place I come in and out of the most for work. My axis has shifted a bit,” she smiled. 

Soon, the renowned sitarist will shuttle in and out of Mumbai and other cities a bit more. On January 30, Anoushka will kick-start her Chapters Tour in Hyderabad, a six-city tour that celebrates her three-decade music career. Thirty years of performances have naturally changed her. “The intimacy between me and the sitar has deepened; there is trust, vulnerability. I’m more experimental, less afraid, but also more authentic,” she reflected.