Jasmeen Patheja and (above) Talvin Singh

He is a British-Asian musician, best known for popularising Asian electronic music in the UK. She is a Calcutta girl, a crusader against sexual harassment. And the two are set for a city marriage next month.

Tabla whiz Talvin Singh and Blank Noise founder Jasmeen Patheja will take their vows right here in the city on August 21, said a source close to the couple, who confirmed that the two have been dating for “over a year”.

“It’s a surprising match. Talvin belongs to the British underground music scene, while Jasmeen is a hardcore social worker,” said the source. “They kept it a secret even from most of their friends, but we are obviously very happy for them.”

In fact, the duo were so keen on keeping their relationship a secret that when they were last spotted in public together in the city — in February — he introduced her to friends and acquaintances as “my cousin”. Talvin had a performance at The Park, and Jasmeen had come down “to listen to him play and to be with him”.

Talvin wanted her to show him around Calcutta and they spent all their time together, said the source. “During his show, the front row was filled with members of Jasmeen’s family. Talvin told us they were his family! Now we know,” said another friend.

Talvin, one of the biggest names in Asian electronic music, is one of those who brought the Asian Underground movement to the mainstream in the late 1990s. He has also worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, such as Madonna, Björk and Massive Attack. Jasmeen is a former La Martiniere for Girls student who went to Bangalore to study at the Srishti School of Design, Arts and Technology before setting up Blank Noise, a platform to fight sexual harassment in public places. Her family lives on Gurusaday Road.

So will it be a big, fat Indian wedding? The 41-year-old Talvin, it was learnt, wants a “traditional Punjabi wedding”, but it’ll be a “very private affair”.

Back in 1996, Talvin named his debut album Calcutta Cyber Café. It even had a track called Nonstop Flight To Calcutta. Did he know then that Calcutta would also mark a beginning to another chapter in his life? Talvin’s not telling, at least for now.