LM Furtado & Co, Mumbai

What to buy here: Musical Instruments.

Traditional India cannot be pictured without accompanying songs and dances. Celebrating life is a part of the Indian identity and its diversity. It is no accident why Indian movies are so much centered on expressing joy and sorrow by dancing and singing on the magic music of the sitars, tablas, ghungroos and khartaals. Of course, the main varieties of instruments in use are string instruments, although due credit is given to wind instruments, percussion and rhythm instruments. Part of the dancer's attire, ghungroos are small brass bells connected together on a leather pad or strap and then tied to the feet of the dancers, allowing complex footwork to be heard by large audiences. Widely used in devotional songs, the khartal is an ancient instrument made out of two similar shaped wooden pieces with metal jingles mounted on its frame to produce sound when struck and shook together. Sitar however, is one of the most popular classical instruments. This string instrument has a body divided in two pieces: the long neck crafted from toon or teakwood and the resonator carved from a well-sized gourd. Sitar is played with a mizrab (wire plectrum) and produces high-pitched, but lush and warm sounds. Purchase a marvelous sitar for your music-savvy loved ones in Mumbai's best place for local and imported musical instruments – LM Furtado & Co.