 "Rumi Harish, classical music")
Soon after a concert at an upmarket venue in Bengaluru, patrons of Hindustani classical music thronged Rumi Harish to tell him how much they enjoyed an evening marked with ragas such as Puriya and Kamod. One elderly connoisseur added, “It would have been better if you had performed in a sari.” Harish wore a kurta to the event; he hasn’t worn saris for a long time.
“Why should it matter what I wear?” asks Harish. “What matters is how you perform. It takes years to arrive at this understanding because everything is so gendered,” says the Bengaluru-based Hindustani classical vocalist.
