Tarun Balani. Photo: Mohit Kapil
When Tarun Balani settled in a video call at his home in Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi, he went to a 1968 painting of a grandfather wearing a woman hanging behind him. His grandfather, a Sindhi writer, painter and photographer, died before Balani was born. But now, through art, a new connection emerges.
Balani’s upcoming album, Kadahin Milandaasin (“When will we meet?”), a tribute to his late grandfather and father, who introduced him to people like Shah Latif and music. “I shared the same studio space my dad rebuilt in 1990. [the album] My identity is more visible through my grandfather’s lens. ”
During the process of making the album, Balani sifted out his grandfather’s manuscripts, photos and paintings. He also spoke with his family about immigration stories like his own Sindhi family, who moved from Sindhi to New Delhi after separation in 1974. Working with linguists and Sindhi historians, Barani has shaped a sound rooted in Sindhi folk traditions and cinematic jazz. He reflected: “I tried to learn more about my grandfather. But in the end it was almost like I ended up finding my own version of my legacy (and my own), and I didn’t even know it existed. So it was pretty.”
The album, scheduled to be released on May 16 through the German label Berthold Records, released on the previously released single “Lajpat Nagar Sometimes” and now, “The exclusive preview of “Save Victims for Everyone” will be found,” a new explanation of Balani’s most popular track from the 2021 EP In the song.
Seven albums include new songs and new works from earlier works such as “Samadhi” and “Locusts Arrival.” All of them explore the themes of immigration, identity and cultural protection. Balani joined his band Dharma to join members of Finnish guitarist Olli Hirvonen, his longtime friend and pianist Sharik Hasan and trumpetist Adam O’Farrill, who also joined guitarist Olli Hirvonen.
When asked about sharing something like a person Kadahin Milandaasin Balani and his band members said it was never about the music they would play. “I think the kind of conversation we had is actually not about music, and it’s also interesting, they’re all very deep cats,” Balani recalls. Instead, he shares stories inspired by poetry from Lajpat Nagar to Shaikh Ayaz, 2020 floods in Sindh, New Delhi Foriage and the artist’s father died in 2024.
Album about sadness, Kadahin Milandaasin Since last March, his father has shared photos taken by Balani’s grandfather, including the art of becoming the album’s cover. The track “Will save victims for every man will be found”, with a boiling drum and lead trumpet, inspired by Viktor Frankl’s 1946 book Men seek meaning. “When I wrote this song, I wanted to do it with the group, and because of the pandemic, I couldn’t travel, so I ended up doing a solo version of the book and it was released in 2022,” Balani explained. It’s the oldest work on the album, but the artist feels inclined to include it. “Somehow, it felt like the whole record was together, and I felt that was the ideal way to loop back to the top of the album,” he said.
The album’s listening session is scheduled to be held this week in New Delhi, along with a music video of the title track. “What we do for music videos is that I have recreated all the legendary Sindhi party we have ever had in my home in the past, even in my grandpa’s day, I just learned these parties a few weeks ago, all these writers have come in the past, they have come in the past, even though I have only learned these parties just a few weeks ago. Baithaksand then at the end, they often turn it into something like these Sindhi folk song singing sessions,” Balani said.
In addition to collecting more photos and art from grandfather, Balani plans to conduct an audio-visual exhibition to focus on the story of Sindhi Diaspora. From the second half of this year to spring 2026, he will tour in India and around the world to promote Kadahin Milandaasin.
