A Sweet Magic Mix from 'Digging in India'

The fifth in our series sees a mix from Indian DJ, 'Digging in India'.

Digging In India a.k.a. Nishant Mittal is a vintage enthusiast. His interests range from collecting records, tapes, matchboxes to postcards and other weird paraphernalia. His utmost interest lies in collecting and sharing unknown and undiscovered funky regional Indian music. He had a radio show "The Home and The World" on New Delhi's online radio station Boxout.fm and is currently hosting his weekly mini mix series on Mixcloud.

Tune in for an hour of sweet Indian magic and scroll down to learn more about this mix.

Tell us about the theme for your mix, where did you draw inspiration?

For this mix, I have chosen an all Indian female funk, jazz, rock selection. It's something I have been listening to and admiring these days, so when I was asked to make a mix, it made perfect sense to with this theme.

Share some of your favourite music-related travel memories?

Music plays a very important part in my travels. I was living in a beautiful little village in the hills of Himachal Pradesh a few years ago, in a tiny room with a makeshift kitchen, a bluetooth speaker and my iPod. I had music on at almost all times of the day. Living in a place like that, you realise you don't need much apart from food, music, a great view and just enough money to survive. It was great.

How are you staying uplifted whilst in lockdown?

It's hard sometimes, but I'm trying not go down the rabbit hole. I have been trying to keep busy, listening to records, watching movies, all that. It's difficult to be in a positive mindset considering the situation of the millions of unprivileged people in India, who have been affected massively due to the lockdown.

What's a place you're most looking forward to visiting?

I had a trip planned for Sri Lanka, which had to be postponed due to the virus, but I look forward to going there after the world is better, so I can indulge in the food, culture and record digging there.

The Tracklist:

Vandana Bajpai - Aur Paas Aa (00:00)

Usha - Fever (03:30)

Sharon - What A Wonder It Will Be (07:15)

Salma Agha - Come Closer (10:10)

Bhagwanti Navani - Aae Allah Hi (15:25)

Chitra - Ninnu Kori (25:00)

Ursula - I Am Falling In Love With A Stranger (29:20)

Jyoti - Birha Ki Maari Koi (33:15)

Human Bondage - Raga Jam (excerpt) (37:20)