“We have never met and I have never worked with the band before,” says Shankar, of the band and its founder member Ian Anderson. “But we know each other’s music and have spent the last few months communicating and e-mailing ideas back and forth.

The 61-year-old Anderson, who called flute a heavy metal instrument, still leads Jethro Tull amid the changes in its line-up since the band’s inception four decades ago. Shankar, who recently completed her American tour with father Pandit Ravi Shankar, says, “Jethro Tull have been to India several times and each time they came someone got in touch with me to ask if I could be involved in a series of duet concerts. But the timing was always off, and I’d be booked for other shows right when they were touring India. Now I am thrilled to be able to work with such a legendary band.”

Anderson and Shankar will be performing five shows from November 27 onwards — in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad, followed by a trip to Dubai.