About the Event

Join Nadeem Shah (Dastango) and Bhawna Goel (Vocalist) as they tell the ‘Dastan’ revolving around the life experiences and poetic compositions of 16th-century Bhakti saint Mirabai. Dwelling upon the historical facts, anecdotes and stories, it aims at comprehending her journey as she navigates her life as a devotee of Krishna. It is a humble attempt to bring to the audience a captivating ‘Dastan’ in Hindustani, accompanied by musical compositions from the ‘Dilli Gharana’ of Hindustani music.

Artist bios -

Nadeem Shah holds a Master’s and MPhil degree in History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has been a Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, where he researched Sufi music and emotions, and his interest lies in traditions of oral storytelling. He has taught History at Delhi University for over a decade to undergraduate students. He is a storytelling artist, a Qissago who engages with classics and texts in Urdu, Hindustani and other Indian languages and adapts them into the storytelling format. He has performed over a hundred shows in India as well as Pakistan and Afghanistan; and has experimented with a diverse range of storytelling: the medieval art form of dastangoi; dramatised reading sessions of poetry and prose by acclaimed Urdu and Hindi authors; and general Qissagoi, or storytelling of original and adapted regional texts. He teaches medieval history to students at Delhi University and lives in Delhi with his wife and daughter.

Bhawna Goel is an Associate Professor at SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University. She has been teaching Modern Indian History to undergraduate students for over two decades.

Trained in Dilli Gharana of Hindustani music for over 10 years, Bhawna Goel possesses remarkable craft to bring traditional compositions in Ghazals and Sufi music to an extraordinary level. With her unique vocal texture and guidance of her Guru Ustad Fareed Hasan Khan, she is all set to make a mark in these genres of 'khyal gayiki'.

She is a seasoned script writer of 'dastanic format'; creatively bringing the elements of performance and dialogue in the art of theatrical storytelling.

She is also a well-accomplished photographer of international stature, having received accolades and rewards for her breathtaking capture of landscapes, monuments and public spectacles. She lives in Delhi with her husband and two sons.