Vrindavan’s Aarti Khetarpal finds her true calling on a Grammy-nominated album
Times of India | 3 February 2026
At the height of her career, the presenter and performer find a balance between ambition, faith, and inner life Aarti has spent years mastering what being in the spotlight is about. From commanding India’s biggest live stages to slipping seamlessly into glamorous, high-impact roles across television, digital platforms, and commercials, her career has been built on visibility, velocity and grand stages. Which makes her presence on Sounds of Kumbha– Sidhant Bhatia’s Grammy-nominated album, startling.
The album, celebrated at the Grammy’s on February 1 in Los Angeles, does not present Aarti as a performer in the conventional sense. There are no characters, no choreography, no performance cues to hit. Instead, she appears simply as herself and introduced by Sidhant as “Aarti from Vrindavan”, rooted in devotion, seva, and a lifelong relationship with Krishna. Often seen carrying a small idol of Bal Krishna, her participation feels less like an artistic pivot and more like her truth finally made visible.
Known for her polish across many well-known media houses, Aarti has long been regarded as one of India’s most accomplished presenters and trusted with global stages, high-pressure live formats that demand both gravitas and charisma. Her professional ascent has been steady, strategic and unmistakably successful. And yet, at the peak of that ascent, she chose surrender to Krishna. In what is a deliberate reorientation, Sounds of Kumbha captures Aarti in a state rarely afforded to public figures at her level: unguarded, inward, surrendered.
The project seems to be asking what remains when achievement is no longer being proven. For her, the answer is faith. “Success is never owned,” she believes. “It is received.” And what is received, Aarti feels, must be shared. That philosophy now informs everything she does. Aarti continues to host, perform, and engage with international audiences but with a recalibrated intention. In her view, spirituality does not demand withdrawal from the world. It demands fuller participation guided by humility and responsibility.
This evolution does not diminish her identity as a powerhouse presenter or actor but completes it with this musical trajectory. At a time when influence is often defined by volume and velocity, Aarti’s choice feels radical. It is a rare modern narrative where ambition and spirituality coexist and where standing fully in the world does not require losing oneself within it.