In June 2012, Dubai-based couple Bharat and Deepa Chachara were witness to a rare moment of silence at a wedding. Rare, because the wedding was partly Punjabi. "The wedding was between a Thathai Bhatia girl and a Punjabi boy. During the sangeet, ladies from the boy's side were singing their traditional Punjabi songs. Later, they asked us to sing traditional songs from our community and there was silence. There weren't any elders in our group and none of us knew the songs. And before you knew it, everyone started singing Bollywood songs," explains Chachara, who is general manager of the India Club in Dubai.

Jagdish Lalwani, Jaishree Bathija and Kavita Balram Mirchandani at Lalwani’s studio in Chembur. PIC/EMMANUEL KHARBARI

Rough estimates put the number of Thathai Bhatias, a sect under the Sindhi community, at a mere 15,000 worldwide. "It struck me that if there was no one to take this forward, in 10 to 15 years, the whole culture will die out," he says. This convinced the couple, who have previously launched books on Thathai Bhatia food and culture, to launch a music album of traditional songs sung by the community.