- By Parina Taneja
- Fri, 04 Sep 2026 05:20 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The last weekend of August witnessed a vibrant energy in the air of Delhi as the South Side Story 2026 took place. The eighth edition of the festival in Delhi beautifully blended music, culture, food, literature, art and contemporary expressions from across South India. Among exhilarating performances by Baby Jean, Arya Dhayal, Aksomaniac, Shobana and others, The Raghu Dixit Project earned the biggest screams and cheers. The popular Indian contemporary folk music band brought alive their album Shakkar that left the Delhites crooning and grooving with the soulful melodies.
Raghu Dixit, the man behind beloved tracks like 'Hey Bhagwan' and 'Mysore Se Aayi', set the stage on fire with his band and exclusively told us his experience of returning to Delhi.
'They forget everything for 10 minutes,' says Raghu Dixit
Raghu Dixit blends Kannada folk, global sounds and storytelling with unmatched warmth in his songs that resonate with everyone, from a 6-year-old kid to an 80-year-old. When asked how he manages that and how it feels, the singer muses, "If they manage to forget everything for 10 minutes out of a one-and-a-half-hour concert, I think my mission of going on stage is accomplished. So, I really love the fact that people are having a great time when I am performing with my band."
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Music Is A Universal Language
While Raghu Dixit's songs are in Kannada, his audience knows no limits and sways with his melodies. People who do not even know Kannada manage to dive into another world with his songs. Reacting to the same, Raghu Dixit explains, "I would say music is a universal language. But I also don't fail to remember that there are people who want to understand what I am singing. So, I take time to explain what the song is about."
He further states, "I might not be able to translate the whole song, but I will give a quick gist of what the song is about. That helps a lot for people to connect with it. And after that, music takes over."
Shakkar Album Was Written In A Dark Phase Of Life
Raghu Dixit's songs are a mix of humour, vulnerability, philosophy, among other things. When talking about his writing process, he explains that he composes a song, melody, line or idea first, and then it leads to what it should be about. While his album Shakkar has happy songs, Dixit confesses that it was written when he was in a dark phase of his life.
"Shakkar is the happiest album I have written, but it was written in a very dark phase of my life. And it is for people who are going through whatever they are going through, but they will probably find a thread to hold on to by listening to one of these songs."
Raghu Dixit confesses, "Shakkar was an album I wrote when I didn't want to live. I was contemplating suicide almost every day or not living. Not that I wanted to kill myself, but it was just that I had lost the zest to live. I had nothing to look forward to. And that was when a friend, an Instagram friend who used to hound me with his demos, John Ball, landed in Bangalore. We started jamming and then within 15 days we had composed some 45 different ideas. Out of which 8 became the songs in Shakkar."
Raghu Dixit’s raw honesty, both in his music and his personal journey behind Shakkar, reminds fans that art can illuminate even our darkest moments, bringing diverse audiences together in a shared celebration of hope, unity, and joy.