She came, she saw and she conquered. That’s how we’d explain Shubha Mudgal‘s performance at One Billion Rising for Justice. Looking simple like a housewife next door she came to stage, showed her concern over the recently out verdict of Supreme court on Section 377 and dedicated the first song to this cause. After this, she sang a couple more songs  about women issues and mesmerized the audience by the prowess of her vocals. Accompanied by a few young band members on guitar and other musical instruments, this performance was a fusion of classical voice and soft rock.

One Billion Rising is a worldwide movement to address the issue of physical abuse and violence against women and to promote gender equality. The campaign is joined by a lot of people including celebrities and commoners worldwide. To celebrate this cause the organization had put together a musical evening at India Habitat Center.

They started with a group pledge for non violence against women. Then moved on to show a couple of videos about the One Billion Rising campaign.

Unlike many other shows that we watch, the organisers of this show did not keep the star performer for the end of the show. They started the musical evening right with Shubha Mudgals performance, followed by  a couple of songs from Azad-Sakha Mahila Chalak group – a group of women auto rickshaw drivers of Delhi. Full of courage and positivity, their songs had a simplicity and raw appeal to it.

Eve Ensler, the founder of One Billion Rising campaign and playwright of “Vagina Monologues” recite a touching and painful poem about women who had to go through physical abuse.

Swang, a group from Mumbai sang a beautiful number “Mae Ni main nahi darna” and left the audience with a lump in their throat. Ranjhana fame actress “Swara Bhaskar” was a part of the group and devoted her time and skills for this cause. The band was also promoting a forthcoming remembrance march in Delhi for last years “Nirbhaya Rape Incident“.

Some of the artists who were also survivors of physical abuse, performed to take this evening to a positive musical conclusion.