Joyous end to the celebrations

The gala puja festivities of the Bengalee Association who were also celebrating their 50th jubilee came to a resounding climax over the last few days with thousands of people enjoying  the cultural programmes each evening. Specially organised to keep the milling crowds well entertained with a carefully chosen mix of old and contemporary music, the penultimate evening had the Bangalore based Bengalee music group Trinoyoni play all the old favourites.

“Durga Puja is more than a religious experience for Bengalee families and their friends in the City. It is a way of bonding with people across generations and classes, a celebration of life and a chance to recreate some of the spirit that permeates Kolkata at this time of the year, here in Bangalore,” says Runu Roy, cultural secretary of the association.

Also celebrating ten years of their existence, Trinoyoni took to the stage and opened with the much loved prayer from Rabindranath Tagore Agune Parush Mone. The gathering also joined in, rising to their feet with great enthusiasm. This set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Babloo Mukherjee, the lead singer of the group then regaled the crowd with a
selection from the classic greats like Manna De and Hemant Mukherjee with numbers like Parandey Rotur from the popular album Bhoomi and the old favourite Coffee House which was popularised by Manna De.

After a couple of classical devotional songs from Rabindranath Tagore, the group went into a medley of lively folk tunes that had the crowd rocking to the beat, keeping time and enjoying the rhythm and melody. “We have peppy groups like Aurko and performers like Mayukh lined up to entertain the youngsters and although people from all ages enjoy their music Trinayani sings the old Bengali songs so beautifully that they really lend a special feeling of nostalgia to the Puja celebrations,” added Runu.