Daughter of Jammu, Pragnya wins Best Folk fusion award at the Radio City Freedom awards

New Delhi: New Delhi-based Kashmiri folk-fusion artist Pragnya Wakhlu went on to win the popular choice award for Best Folk Fusion artist at the Radio City Freedom Awards held in March at Worli, Mumbai. She secured the win for her Kashmiri-English folk fusion album Kahwa Speaks. The Radio City Freedom awards are one of the biggest independent artist recognition platforms in the country, receiving more than 5000 entries from both well established and aspiring independent musicians. There were six genres represented at the awards, Hip hop, Pop, Rock, Metal, Electronic and Folk-Fusion. The final nominees for these genres were then split into two categories judge’s choice and popular choice, of which popular choice was based purely on a public vote for the artists nominated.

"This is a very emotional moment for me as this album is very personal to me and took almost 3 years to create" says Pragnya "I was touched by the number of people that have voted, supported and believed in this dream and been on this journey with me from the beginning. This one's for all of you.I hope this award encourages more artists to try unconventional things with their music and celebrate our regional languages in music more.

The aim of Wakhlu's album Kahwa Speaks is to introduce the world to the hidden facets of Kashmiri culture by means of an audio-visual performance and story-telling. It is also a bid to regenerate interest in the language and preserve Kashmiri culture. The songs talk about integrity, harmony and incorporate elements of Kashmiri culture like the Wanwun style of singing, Ladishah and an introduction to lalded's Vaakhs.

The only female artist to win an award that night Pragnya shares more with us about her future plans this year. "We have successfully completed our crowd funding campaign last year and are currently producing the visual elements of our tour .We plan to go on tour later this year with a full audio –visual set and hope to give people a one-of-its kind experience of Kashmir."

We know one thing for sure - there are very few individuals pushing to portray the beautiful heritage and culture of Kashmir & Pragnya Wakhlu is one of the torch bearers of that initiative.