SONGS FOR MANY LIVES: A CARNATIC DIASPORA SONGBOOK

In this project, Carnatic music takes root in a context close to home: our lives as immigrants in the Bay Area, California. We celebrate South Asian immigrant life, in its diversity, radicality and richness.

Songs for Many Lives creates new Carnatic compositions inspired by stories of South Asian immigration to North America. These songs reflect not only the successes and struggles, but also the myriad ways - some more visible than others - by which South Asian immigrants have made a new home, re-invented traditions, and fought for better lives for their communities. Compositions are in the langauges Tamil, Sanskrit, Hindi, Telugu, English, Bengali, and presented with documentary video and devised stage movement.

Learn more about the ARTIST TEAM and featured COMMUNITY VOICES

Carnatic songs beautifully express deep personal devotion and speak of the inner spiritual journey. Can our rich music, so effective at invoking contemplative and emotional states of mind, also articulate values of friendship, resistance to oppression, justice, plurality, and more? Can the music speak to the themes of our diasporic lives and immigrant communities?

Creators & Supporters

Songs for Many Lives is led by violinist Sruti Sarathy and vocalist Roopa Mahadevan. The project began with a grant from the Creative Work Fund, through which they began working with Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA) to learn more about the organizing history of South Asians in the Bay Area, and the issues that drive their ongoing advocacy work.

After three successful work-in-progress showings in Chicago (Kalapriya), Atlanta (Emory University), and San Francisco, Songs for Many Lives officially premiered through three sold-out shows in the Bay Area, California in Fall 2025 - Pear Theater in Mountain View and Creativity Theater in San Francisco. The premiere performance was supported by the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

An album of the compositions is forthcoming in Fall 2026!

Get Involved

📨 Join our mailing list

🫙 Donate to our project!

🗓️ Book us to do a performance in your community

Help Connect Us

Any South Asian American figures or stories we should consider including in our project? Are you a filmmaker, photographer, or other visual artist interested in collaborating with us? Are you a South Asian archivist/historian or scholar of South Asian immigration?

Please email songsformanylives@gmail.com. We’d love to work with you!

“Let’s sing a tillana, let’s sing this sweet raga

so that better times may flower from now,

so that we can welcome justness and friendship.”

• • •

Become a part of our project!

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