First-ever Djembe drum circle event held in Visakhapatnam

In India, no celebration is serious until it starts getting loud and proud. Be it a marriage, a procession or a festival, the appearance of a dhol and its first resounding beat quite literally set happiness in motion. In West Africa, things aren’t too different, and the first-ever Djembe drum circle event in Visakhapatnam – held on 23 August 2025 at Best Western Plus Tajvivaan – proved exactly that.

Led by Sai Kumar, founder of The Djembe Circle and hosted by The Grin Club, the session brought to Vizag the “Djembe,” a drum native to the Mandinka tribe in West Africa. Today, it has increasingly become a popular part of music therapy as it encourages people to simply play around and create rather than perform.

Sai began the evening with a claim that everyone in the room would leave happier and freer than they had felt when entering. One could see his promise coming true within the next ten minutes itself as people began to drum and exclamations of happiness filled the air.

“It activates the Muladhara Chakra,” explained Sai, which is a grounding root chakra said to offer stability and a sense of security. After learning the basics, the group moved on to making different tunes. Sai encouraged a few people in the crowd to play a beat for others to follow, bringing a sense of camaraderie. He even threw in some African calls like “Kilele Kilele Awo Awo Kilele,” and “Funga Alafia, Ashe Ashe,” that everyone sang along to.

The first-ever Djembe Drum Circle in Visakhapatnam was all-in-all therapeutic and inspiring. It drew attention to the healing process of drumming, the act of creating rhythm, and the freedom of engaging meaningfully, without any pressure of “perfection.”

The Djembe Drum Circle was hosted by The Grin Club, a Vijayawada-based group that has been instrumental in bringing joy through open mics, stand-up comedy, and other events in Vizag and Vijayawada.

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