Vasai-based Ainsley Pereira’s earliest memory of the ghumat is of seeing his uncles play it when he was about 10. While he did not have access to the earthen percussion instrument then, he kept himself busy by drumming his fingers on buckets and other homemade equipment as any child would do at that age. However, Pereira’s fascination did not die out because as soon as he got the chance 10 years later, he purchased a ghumat for himself with his own money. The instrument has a way of doing that to people especially because of the hypnotic sound it produces. Its beats have the ability to make the listener raise one hand in the air, like the East Indians do, and swirl. 

Now, almost 15 years later, the freelance interior designer is a part of a band called 'Ghumat Gang’ based out of Vasai. The band, which was started by him in 2017 with other like-minded music enthusiasts comprises of ghumat players only, and is probably one of its kind in the city. It is the fruit of Pereira’s love for the drum-like instrument and the fact that he couldn’t get into an orchestra after trying many times. Almost 100 shows later, playing across Vasai and Mumbai in the East Indian gaothans, he has realised the importance of his work. “I am trying to revive interest in the instrument,” says Pereira. “It is not even easily seen in East Indian houses anymore from what I know, even though it is very much a part of our culture.”