malar batacharia this traditional indian instrument called the serode made sounds that are soothing.here, they may have heard it growing up at home. >> reporter: the doctor is a second generation indian american, a physician at ucsf and one of the bay area's top serode players. he's drawn to the music for creativity and relaxation. >> you don't have to necessarily be indian to appreciate that it has a certain touching quality, a kind of some people would say meditating or mesmerizing quality that puts you in a good zone of peaceful thoughts and feelings. >> reporter: it's been played for centuries, but soon it might be discovered by new audiences in the first of its kind cultural exhibit at the king library in san jose called south asians in silicon valley. >> almost 20% of santa clara county is south asian. >> reporter: montra roy is the lead curator of the exhibit which focuses on the people, the music, food and many contributions of the south asian community. >> and by south asia i mean seven countries. so that's afghanistan, bangladesh, india, nepal, pakistan and sri lanka. all t