Shindhu is an all female group studying the divine art of meditation under the guidance of Sri Chinmoy. The group was first formed in England, in 1984, under the direction of Udasina Hansford who hails from Bristol. They recorded four CDs. Later this group dissolved and Udasina made two solo CDs.
In 1997 the group was reformed in New York with women from fourteen different nationalities. A few members are professionally trained musicians, but most are women who have discovered their love of music and capacity for singing through the hauntingly beautiful songs of Sri Chinmoy.
The group meet each day for rehearsal during their bi-annual, 2 week visit to see Sri Chinmoy in New York. Against seemingly impossible odds many members of the group come from distant countries to England, each year, to produce a new CD. This new group has currently recorded 3 CDs.
Udasina studied piano and classical guitar at the Royal Academy of Music. Her longing to find a "certain elusive, exquisite quality" in music led her to the field of Renaissance music. She took up the lute and viola da gamba and performed in various groups in England, France and Germany. She was one of the founder members of the London Early Music Centre.
In 1980 she became a student of Sri Chinmoy and found in his music the fulfilment of her long search for that "elusive, exquisite quality".