Suvarna Tula is a musical play, written in 1960, made popular by the voice of singer-actress Padmashree awardee Jaymala Shiledar whose rendition of Angani Parijaat Phulala (The jasmine blooms in my courtyard) is still remembered and recreated in contemporary concerts. The song, constructed in raag bihaag, sung by many vocalists of repute, attains a colourful dimension in the version presented by Soji Mathew, 15, a Badlapur-based singing sensation who is a recipient of several state-level awards as well as the prestigious Centre for Cultural Resources and Training scholarship, instituted by the Union Ministry of Culture.

While her accolades are impressive, as is her fan following on YouTube and other social media platforms, what struck this columnist at a recent concert in the Dadar Matunga Cultural Center was Mathew's inclusivity—the zest of a Malayalam Christian college girl to embrace diverse musical idioms–Natya Sangeet to church choirs to temple mehfils to online music reality shows to Akashwani recordings—in varied regional languages, including Marathi, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil.