Indians are known to love their music.
However, unlike the notion prevalent in the West, which knows Indian music mainly through its Bollywood movie industry, the scene is incredibly diverse.
Retracing the subcontinent's musical history starts with Indian classical music, which is further divided into Hindustani and Carnatic. Indian folk then emerged, with every region in the nation having its own version. Most recently, Indian rock and pop have dominated the charts.
It is obvious, then, that the Indian community in New Zealand would have brought their musical roots with them to their new homeland.
Until recently, though, the music scene was confined to the community. There were community-run schools teaching vocals, dances and instruments, with hundreds learning the arts every year.
But things have started to change, with this year being particularly notable for the enthusiasm with which the Indian community celebrated NZ Music Month in May.
Musicians and artists across genres, cities and even age groups contributed to the celebration.
It started with Manjit Singh, who runs the Rhythm School of Indian Music in south Auckland. Singh organised a collaboration of Indian music and jazz called Takadimi at the Auckland Jazz and Blues Club on 2 May.
He then performed with Māori musicians Rob Thorne and Aroha Jansen for the Ministry of Ethnic Communities' Cultural Kōrero.
Daljeet Kaur was on vocals and Teja Singh on rubab (a lute-like Indian musical instrument).
"We performed a classical Indian piece in Raga Yaman Kalyan," Singh said.
"We also organised an evening of Indian classical music, which we called Baithak, hosted by our music charity Naad, which works on building awareness for Indian music and culture."
Singh's students also did an introductory session on Indian classical music at Auckland's Papatoetoe Library.
"We had talented musicians, beautiful singers and fantastic dancers sharing their expertise with us in a fusion of folk music, Bollywood and Indo-Western music," the Papatoetoe Library said in a Facebook post on 31 May.
One of those events was under the banner of Indo-Western music outfit Raagtime, in which Singh teams up with celebrated pianist Ben Fernandez, who has been a regular on-call performer on the governor-general's invitation list for more than a decade.
"The music community in New Zealand is very open," Fernandez said.
"I feel people here are always on the lookout to learn new ways of producing music. I feel very privileged to be able to share our rich tradition with musicians here in Aotearoa."
His feelings were echoed by Basant Madhur, a well-known percussionist in the community, who runs the Sargam School of Indian Music in west Auckland alongside his father.
"On 19 May, we went to Havelock North High School, and gave a taste of Indian classical music to their students and teachers. I was accompanied by Sargam Madhur on sitar. We were invited by the principal of the school, Joel Wilton, who is a drummer himself. He was very interested in learning the nuances of our tabla (hand drums)," Madhur said.
"Music runs in our family. My father taught music at a university in India. After retirement, he joined me here and we now have over 150 students learning vocals, sitar, tabla and even kathak (an Indian classical dance). Some of those performed at Blockhouse Bay Library as part of the month-long celebrations."
Madhur also participated in Drummers Day Out, an event hosted by Umbrella Creative on 27 May.
"It was an opportunity for all of us percussion players to share and learn each other's music traditions."
Basant Madhur, left, on tabla and Sargam Madhur on sitar celebrating NZ Music Month. Photo: Supplied
Outside of Auckland, Christchurch-based Revathi Performing Arts, a school that teaches Indian classical dance bharathanatyam and Carnatic music, held its annual programme Sangeetham on 21 May to celebrate NZ Music Month.
In addition to classical melodies, the concert had an Indian contemporary music segment as well.
As the month was ending, one of New Zealand's youngest pop artists, 10-year-old Aanvika Santhanam (who performs as Aanvi S), released a debut EP titled Emotions.
"Aanvi has previously released the singles 'Music Is My Religion' and 'I See You', the latter of which was dedicated to the people of Ukraine," said Subha Narasimhan, Aanvi's mother.
"Frances Dickinson, who has coached musicians such as Lorde and Six60, helped her develop songwriting skills and played a crucial role in her debut EP."
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