Anoushka Shankar: Important to call out inappropriate behaviour

Grammy-nominated sitarist, composer and producer Anoushka Shankar feels it is important to call out inappropriate behaviour, and says there is a need to amplify the voices of women at all levels of the music industry.

Recently, Anoushka used social media to call out abusive and sexually inappropriate comments that she received during a live session.

"In this instance I suppose I dealt with it by calling it out and refusing to accept it. I think it's important for us to consistently call out inappropriate behaviour, especially when that behaviour has been normalised, as it takes so much active work to change the status quo," said Anoushka recalling the incident.

Anoushka feels there are a lot of things that fuel hatred that women, and not just female artistes, receive in the virtual world.

"Sexism? Inequality? Misogyny? The question is not about female artistes but about women and inequality overall," she said when asked about the reasons why women are subjected to online hate and abuse.

Now, she has come out with "Those words", which features British composer, singer and cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson and Indian singer Shilpa Rao.