Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones at Swabhumi on Friday. They picked up clothes and trinkets and gorged on kebabs. Picture by Aranya Sen

One plays the sitar, the other sings the blues. One is the 26-year-old daughter of Ravi Shankar and Sukanya, the other is the 28-year-old daughter of Ravi Shankar and Sue Jones. One is in town to take the stage with her father, the other is here to escape the spotlight.

But Anoushka Shankar and Geethali Norah Jones Shankar get along famously. And so, Friday was the sisters’ day out in town.

“She is my sister, we obviously share a special bond,” Anoushka had told Metro on Thursday.

That bond was evident on Friday, as the two daughters of the sitar maestro stepped out of the confines of their Taj Bengal room.

First stop: Victoria Memorial. Even before arriving in Calcutta — her first visit since she passed through as an infant — Norah had voiced the desire to spend time at some city landmarks, starting with Victoria Memorial.

On Friday, Norah, Anoushka and her mother Sukanya spent close to two hours in the Memorial.

“They both look so alike and they seemed to be the best of friends. They appeared eager to know about various aspects of the Memorial and spent a lot of time in front of the oil paintings,” said an official at the site.

From Victoria Memorial, the sisters made their way to Swabhumi, where they spent a leisurely afternoon.

“They chose to have an Indian lunch with lots of kebabs. They tried out other things as well, but the chicken and fish kebabs were the biggest hits,“ said a source at Swabhumi, who accompanied the star visitors.

“Both Norah and Anoushka picked and chose some tops and skirts. They also bought a large amount of junk jewellery and a host of trinkets,” added the Swabhumi official.

The sisters kept the Swabhumi visit hush-hush, as Norah has been fighting shy of the shutterbugs ever since she landed late on Wednesday.

“The Shankars as a family have expressed the desire for total privacy,” said a spokesperson for Taj Bengal, stressing that Norah Jones was on a “private visit” and did not want to be disturbed.

Though they have been largely keeping to their rooms, the two sisters have been to the Alipore hotel’s health club and have been spotted chilling out at the bar.