It was like a homecoming for singer and songwriter Maya Kamaty, from Reunion Islands, at the recently concluded RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival). Her father’s ancestors hailed from Rajasthan and she had come to Jodhpur not just to partake in the music festivities but also to find her place, her roots. “The journey is going to be long but I am more than prepared and excited to find where I come from,” she says. The 28 year old singer, accompanied by an instrument named the kayamb (sugarcane rattle) filled the Zenana Courtyard of the Mehrangarh Fort, singing about love, longing, flowers and alcoholism. She sang mainly in Creole (the official language of the Reunion Islands). Amalgamating traditional instruments with modern interpretations, her music was a union of modern harmonies, African notes and a bit of blues.