Kesarbai Kerkar was born in Querim Goa in 1892. Then colonized by the Portuguese, in 1902 her parents migrated to Maharashtra, in search of better livelihood. Her mother encouraged her to sing from an early age. She picked up her singing lessons in Kohlapur, with local meastro Abdul Karim Khan. In 1911 Kesarbai's father opted to move to Bombay, a rapidly growing city - the British empire's leading port. At this point Kesarbai faced the usual pressure to get married. Having ritually followed ten years of formal training, she insisted on moving to Jaipur to study further. She pledged to learn from Ustad Alladiya Khan, the founder of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. Twelve years later, Kesarbai would begin singing professionally, however staying close to her teacher, who suffered prolonged illness, leading to his death in 1946. Her concerts (1931-1941) were patronized by imperial visitors, small maharajas, the business class and petty royalty. She abstained from light classical, and the "mehfil" culture. 1947, at the brink India's independence, Kesarbai appeared in Bombay, about to step into a male dominated classical music sorority. Her insuperable command of the Khayal, backed by almost two decades of training, reached an urban audience, with performances on radio and record pressings by HMV (1949-54).

During one such session in 1950, she sang "Jaat kahan ho" (Where do you wander) which was pressed to limited copies of vinyl. Renowned ethnomusicologist Robert E Brown searched the record for years, insisting that Kesarbai's voice was of utmost value and character. Kesarbai remained unaware of Brown's quest and the fate of her tune all her remaining life. Brown remained clueless about the meaning of the lyrics. After receiving key national awards and being titled "Surashri" (excellent voice), Kesarbai retired, moving back to her native village in 1967. Ironic that in 1968 a copy of the record was finally located, inside a hardware store run by an migrant Indian family, living in Lexington Avenue New York. The migrants had come from one world to another, carrying their music and memories. Music travels from one land to another, and a little tune, can cross an unimaginable distance, having left it's native ecosystem long ago. Where do you wander?

Robert E Brown, Carl Sagan along with several academics and music experts contributed to the playlist on the Golden Disc of Voyager One. Based on the idea to "portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth... for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form who may find and hear them.." However nobody has found them yet, and the sounds on the Golden Disc remain unheard. All the songs transcending over time and multi-dimensional constructs of space. The package contains hundreds of little tracks. Natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind, thunder and animals (including birds, insects and whales). Audio content to represent humanity: spoken greetings in 55 ancient and modern languages. Even footsteps and child's laughter and crying. As for the music, tunes from allover the world including Kesarbai Kerkar's "Jaat kahan ho" and Bach, Beatles, Stravinsky etc etc, are etched on "this little bottle sent into the cosmic ocean" (Carl Sagan 1978). The remainder of the record is audio, designed to be played at 16.5  revolutions per minute. Hand etched on the disc is the message - "To the makers of music – all worlds, all times".