Voice of India DEBOJIT SAHA writes exclusively for The Telegraph from the US, where he is regaling the diaspora during the festive season...

Life has really turned upside down for me, albeit for good reasons. After winning Zee TV’s musical reality show Sa Re Ge Ma Pa, my entire lifestyle has changed… and all this has happened in just a year’s time.

I realise this all the more as I write, sitting in a cosy Los Angeles hotel suite.

Now what am I doing in the US at a time when the entire country is celebrating Durga Puja with great fervour, especially in my hometown Silchar?

I am on a tour to the US, and my mission is to enthral Puja revellers during the festivities. People of Indian origin here celebrate the festival with as much gusto as their counterparts in India. I, along with a group of singers, have been especially invited from Mumbai, bringing songs from India that touch Indian hearts.

Even as you read this column I will, perhaps, be performing at different venues in Los Angeles and San Francisco. My tour has been conducted by organisers of various community Pujas in these great cities. Right now, I am halfway through the tour. At most of my concerts, I performed popular Hindi numbers from Bollywood blockbusters. Matching the festive mood, I sang Bengali songs too, touching a chord among the nostalgic Bengali population settled all over this foreign land. Popular Assamese, Gujarati and Punjabi numbers have also been part of my varied repertoire.

Los Angeles has a considerable population of Assamese NRIs, so I specially sang some eternal favourites among the Bihu numbers for them. Actually, I have done a good amount of homework, so I am prepared to sing every kind of song. I know that once I am on stage and someone requests me to sing something, I cannot but honour that request.

This entire tour is aimed at celebrating India, Indian music and Indian festivals in the country that has become an ally of ours. At my shows I found many American citizens who came to enjoy the music and join in the revelry. Foreigners, too, have great respect for Indian culture and tradition. There is another thing I must admit.

Although many people of Indian origin have been staying in the US for long, they have still retained Indian traditions, culture and sentiment.

Wherever I went, I got the impression that India has been recreated in each of those places.

The image of the Mother Goddess in a decorated pandal and devotees singing in praise of the Devi… the entire ambience made me nostalgic in a way I never felt before. One thing is clear — with a little bit of love and devotion, moods and festivities that are essentially Indian can be recreated anywhere in the world.

I know I am far away from home, but the mood of celebration here is so similar to that in my native land that I feel completely at home. Moreover, the amount love and admiration I get from the people is no less a blessing for me, a beginner who is trying hard to better himself with every passing day.