Editor's Note
Tonight in Brooklyn, two concerts. Tomorrow at Judson Memorial Church, one reading. This is the 48 hours.
Twenty-one issues in. This city has not once run out of things worth your time.
Tonight: two concerts in Brooklyn. Vinay Desai on santoor and Anubrata Chatterjee on tabla play two sets at The Green Room PLG in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens -- 6:30pm and 8pm, 408 Rogers Ave. Anubrata is the son of Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, one of the great tabla masters of the 20th century, director of the Farrukhabad gharana school. The music carries that lineage. Then at 8pm, a 10-minute drive to Barzakh in Crown Heights: Kahat Kabir, Brooklyn Raga Massive performing the words of the 15th-century mystic poet. Two rooms, one evening.
Tomorrow: Fatimah Asghar reads from their new collection Daughter of the Mountains at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, 7pm. With Chani Nicholas, Angel Nafis, and Safiya Sinclair. The Words section below has a line from the collection. Read it before you decide whether to go.
Also tomorrow, Thursday July 24: Ronobir Lahiri on the Sultan Room Rooftop in Bushwick. Two ways to spend a Thursday evening -- one in the West Village, one in Bushwick. Both in coming soon below.
-- The Editors, Bollywood.NYC
This Week
Tonight, Jul 23: Vinay Desai + Anubrata Chatterjee at The Green Room PLG, 6:30pm and 8pm. Kahat Kabir: BRM at Barzakh, 8pm.
Tomorrow, Jul 24: Fatimah Asghar at Judson Memorial Church, 7pm. Ronobir Lahiri at Sultan Room Rooftop, Bushwick.
Sat, Jul 26: Carnatic Classical Performance at Barzakh, 8pm.
01
Editor's Pick
Poetry
Tomorrow
Fatimah Asghar and Chani Nicholas, ft. Angel Nafis and Safiya Sinclair
Tomorrow, Friday July 24
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7 PM
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Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, Manhattan
Fatimah Asghar's new collection Daughter of the Mountains: poems of heartbreak and homecoming is out this month. They are a Pakistani-American Muslim poet, filmmaker, and co-creator of the Emmy-nominated series Brown Girls. Their debut If They Come for Us was a National Book Award longlist finalist. Tomorrow at Judson Memorial Church: a reading with astrologer and author Chani Nicholas, poets Angel Nafis and Safiya Sinclair (National Book Critics Circle Award, How to Say Babylon). RSVP required.
RSVP -- McNally Jackson
02
Classical
Tonight
Vinay Desai and Anubrata Chatterjee -- The Green Room PLG, Brooklyn
Tonight, July 23
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Two sets: 6:30-7:30pm (doors 6pm) + 8-9pm (doors 7:30pm)
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The Green Room PLG, 408 Rogers Ave, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
Vinay Desai plays santoor -- the hammered string instrument described as having a hundred strings -- and is a direct disciple of Padma Vibhushan Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Anubrata Chatterjee plays tabla and is the son of Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, director of the Farrukhabad gharana school and one of the great tabla masters of the 20th century. Two sets tonight at The Green Room PLG in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. If you're coming to the second set at 8pm, you could get to Barzakh for the end of Kahat Kabir afterward -- it's a 10-minute drive.
Tickets -- Viewcy
03
Music
Tonight
Kahat Kabir: BRM Concert and Jam -- Barzakh Cafe, Brooklyn
Tonight, July 23
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8 to 10 PM
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Barzakh Cafe, 147 Utica Ave, Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Raga Massive and Barzakh Cafe perform the words of Kabir -- the 15th-century mystic poet who rejected caste from both Hindu and Islamic traditions, whose dohas are still sung 600 years later. Tonight at Barzakh, 8 to 10pm. Ten minutes by car from The Green Room PLG if you catch the early set there first.
Tickets -- Viewcy
Tomorrow, Jul 24
Ronobir Lahiri: Ronobir Live in Brooklyn -- Sultan Room Rooftop, Bushwick
Sitarist described as the Jimi Hendrix of the Sitar. Inventor of the Dautar (guitar + sitar + cello). Worked with Katy Perry, Ziggy Marley, Lil Nas X. Sultan Room Rooftop, 234 Starr St, Bushwick. Thursday July 24. 21+. Same evening as Fatimah Asghar at Judson Memorial Church. Also tomorrow at Barzakh: With Sufna, 147 Utica Ave.
Tickets -- DICE
Fri, Jul 31
Sammy Virji: North America Tour 2026 -- Brooklyn Army Terminal, Sunset Park
DJ Mag Best Producer 2025. British-Indian. Open-air show at Brooklyn Army Terminal, 140 58th St, Sunset Park. Friday July 31, 4pm. 18+. Rain or Shine. Tickets from $95. Continues Saturday August 1 -- same night as the Bengali Film Festival at SVA Theatre.
Tickets -- DICE
Sat, Aug 1
2026 Bengali Film Festival -- SVA Theatre, Manhattan
4th annual Bengali Film Festival by Bengalis of New York. SVA Theatre, 333 W 23rd St, Chelsea. Bengali cinema, filmmaker Q&As, Bengali Met Gala red carpet. Saturday August 1. Same night as Sammy Virji's second night at Brooklyn Army Terminal.
Tickets -- Posh
Fri Aug 7 + Sat Aug 8
Hans Raj Hans: Live Sufi Night -- HK Hall, Manhattan
Punjabi Sufi and folk artist, former Member of Parliament. Live Sufi concert followed by Bollywood afterparty. HK Hall, 605 W 48th St. August 7 and 8, 8pm to 4am. 21+.
Tickets -- Eventbrite
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Words
"beyond that cliff is me."
Fatimah Asghar -- from Daughter of the Mountains: poems of heartbreak and homecoming (One World, 2026)
She reads from this collection tomorrow at Judson Memorial Church with Chani Nicholas, Angel Nafis, and Safiya Sinclair. Before that, tonight in Brooklyn -- Vinay Desai on santoor and Anubrata Chatterjee on tabla at The Green Room PLG, followed by Brooklyn Raga Massive at Barzakh. "Beyond that cliff" is what lies past the edge of what you know. These 48 hours are that kind of edge.
Know someone who should be reading this? The list grows one good recommendation at a time.
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ICYMI: The City Around You
Carnatic Classical Performance at Barzakh, July 26. India Day Parade, Madison Avenue, August 16, free. Desi SNL Episode 3 -- August 19 and August 29. Erasing Borders Dance Festival, Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, September 19-20 (five classical Indian dance forms). L Shankar at Adler Hall, September 18 (WMI). Sonu Nigam at Nassau Coliseum, September 13. Kanan Gill at Town Hall, October 3. Laughing Lassi NYC South Asian Comedy Festival, October 16-18. Carnegie Hall inaugural Indian music festival, May 21-23, 2027.