Dior Fall 2023: Meet tabla virtuoso Anuradha Pal who left audience spellbound with her soulful music

The much-hyped Dior Fall 2023 show, held at the Gateway of India, Mumbai, on Thursday, was a celebration of Indian culture and its women. And, the most beautiful part of the entire presentation, envisioned by Dior's creative directorMaria Grazia Chiuri, was the classical music being played live as the models sauntered down the catwalk in gorgeous ensembles.

The woman behind the tabla was none other than maestro Anuradha Pal, who is a tabla virtuoso, multi-percussionist and music composer acclaimed as the first professional female tabla player in the world by Encyclopedia Britannica and the Limca Book of Records.She left us all spellbound with her soulful music and gave us goosebumps as we witnessed the show unfold at the historic monument.

Her story is one of fortitude, courage, commitment and creativity. Asa child prodigy, she started giving solo tabla performanceson Doordarshan and All India Radio when she was just nine years old.She countered unfair chauvinism anddiscrimination with rigorous study,hard work and grit.

Catalyzed by her own experiences and struggles, she founded the first-ever all-female Indian Classical music band, Stree Shakti in 1996. With this initiative, she wanted to provide a platform to other deserving women who otherwise wouldn't be able to shine in a male-dominated industry.

Lauded as a female empowerment icon, Anuradha has several trendsetting firststo her credit. On the internet, netizens are showering love on her for her Dior performance. One Twitterati wrote, "Wait, is that Anuradha Pal on the table, how iconic." Another commented, "Anuradha Pal was so good at the tabla." And, one tweeted, "The woman who was playing tabla at dior’s runway stole the show."

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