The room was beautifully decorated with ivory-coloured hanging lanterns and ornately carved models of temples illuminated from within. There was a crafts fair and a silent auction as well as entertainment. Most people in attendance were in western dress but the presence of lovely women in beautiful saris added elegance and colour to the crowd.

The inaugural fundraiser for the MAA was introduced by its founder and director, Kashfi Mahmud. Tabla master Gurpreet Chana started off the evening’s music with a solo on a melodic percussion instrument, a type of steel pan drum called a hang which resembles a wok. Moving his hands over and around it, producing clear liquid tones from precise locations with his fingers, Gurpreet played melody and rhythm simultaneously. Reaching a hypnotic groove, he played tabla with the left hand and hang with the right. We had been solidly transplanted to India and set up for the band, The Masala Makers, which featured vocalist Devika Mathur, saxophonist Sundar Viswanathan, Gurpreet Chana on drums and percussion and Chris Gartner on bass.

These talented musicians played mostly covers of Bollywood favourites, starting with “Kajra re”, greeted with enthusiasm from the crowd. Gurpreet Chana played Indian talking drum on this one. Other tunes were "Kaisi Paheli Zindagani" and "Dil Ko Hazaar Bar". In "Mera Nam Chin Chin Chook" Sundar Viswanathan, a jazz saxophonist with serious talent, interjected a humorously high-pitched backup vocal sending the room and the rest of the band into peals of laughter. Devika then launched into some Indo-jazz improvised vocals including short breaths into the microphone. It was rich, interesting music and great fun. The set finished with a hauntingly beautiful saxophone solo.