Indian Whistlers' Association(IWA) is the world's first truly Indian, whistling community incorporated for anyone having interest in whistling. IWA was founded by Mr.Rigveda Deshpandey (The Maverick Whistler), on Sept. 19th, 2004.

Objective

IWA's key goal is to find, meet and bring together, whistlers from all over India, onto a single platform, to change the perception of whistling in India, get it recognition as a "Performing Art" and its members as artists.

It is our ultimate goal to have a national whistling competition on the lines of "Indian Idol" and also hold an international whistling festival in India.

USP

IWA is proud to have 400+ whistling members-both male and female, of age group 10 years to 75 years from diverse socio-occupational strata of society. Our whistlers are capable of whistling not just film songs but also classical, carnatic, devotional, patriotic and other diverse range of compositions. Besides the regular pucker whistlers, IWA also has a unique talent of bird whistlers, finger whistlers, teeth whistlers, roof whistlers, warble whistlers. IWA has organised several shows and workshops all over India, receiving accolades from media, organisations, educational institutions and individuals. IWA shows have provided a unique and unforgettable experience to its audiences all over India.

Latest Update

IWA has entered the LIMCA BOOK of RECORDS 2009 with 48 whistlers from all over India whistling "sare jahan se achha" in unison.

History of IWA - Taking it to new heights from just a Yahoo! Group

On December 14, 2005, Rigveda Deshpandey received a call on his cellphone at 8.30 in the morning. The caller was Jagat Tarkas, a businessman from Chennai, who introduced himself and said he would like to join their group. "I asked him to whistle a few bars over the phone but he insisted that he would travel all the way from Chennai to Pune and prove his talent. I wondered whether this guy was crazy to come all the way just to prove that he could whistle," laughs Rigveda at the memory of the phone conversation. But Tarkas kept his word and met up with Rigveda and Chetan Bhide in Pune. "Jagat was in his fifties but all charged up and very positive about taking IWA to new heights,'' says Chetan. "He had a plan in mind. He wanted us to perform on stage. Until then we whistlers were only exchanging e-mails and it was getting us nowhere." Thanks to Tarkas, IWA was launched as an organisation. For the 59-year-old businessman, IWA filled a void in his life. A fairly good singer, Tarkas was better known among friends as Mohammad Rafi, the legendary Bollywood singer of India who passed away in the '80s.

Tarkas convinced Rigveda to bring together other interested whistlers in India and in 2006, they organised the first show in Chennai. The show brought together all true-blue whistlers for whom it was a passion of melody and skill. People of all ages began to show up, says Rigveda. So popular was the event that a second show was held in August that year in Bangalore. Tamil songs were introduced at the Chennai show in April 2007. Soon new talent trickled into the group and today, IWA boasts 400 members with 100 whistlers from Tamil Nadu alone. Rigveda redesigned the IWA website which was officially launched in 2007.

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Do you love whistling? Do you whistle professionally or just for fun? Would you like to display your talent? Or are you looking for whistling talent? Do you want to meet & interact with whistlers from across India? Do you want to develop your skills? Do you want to help popularize this unique art form in India? If your answer is yes to any of these questions,