Sound of Women is a grassroots music project by Krantinaari (Ashwini Hiremath) and Charu Hariharan, born from the radical belief that hip-hop is folk. After co-founding India’s first all-female hip-hop crew, Wild Wild Women, Krantinaari set out on a deeper journey—traveling across 72 regions of India, where she witnessed women forbidden from even touching instruments. At the same time, Charu Hariharan was researching and working with folk artists in South India, where similar patterns emerged of exclusion of the voices of women from the arts. Together, they wanted to provide a platform to these voices under the umbrella of world music. What began as a question—Why are women missing from the music scene?—turned into a movement.

The Sound of Women performance set speaks from the lived realities of women whose voices emerge from forests, mountains, and working-class communities across India. The songs carry reflections on climate change — changing seasons, disappearing forests, and the emotional and economic impact this has on their lives. They speak of migration, of leaving ancestral homes in search of survival, of cities that offer work but not belonging, and of the longing to remain connected to land and identity.

These women are not just performers—they are culture-keepers, storytellers, and warriors of sound, rewriting the future of Kumaoni music in the most grassroots and powerful way.

This is the Sound of Women—a revolution in rhythm, a reclamation of space, and a celebration of every woman who dares to sing her truth.