JOIN USThe world has seen the catastrophe that hit Uttarakhand last month, killing thousands and crippling several thousand others. In a bid to help those caught up in the aftermath, a fundraiser musical event was organised for the flood-ravaged state by 13 Indian bands and singers at Manhattan, The Craft Brewery.
‘United Unplugged Uttarakhand’ was attended by more than a 1000 guests and organised in association with Parikrama Inc., in support of Leap Foundation which is working to rehabilitate the flood victims. The performing artists included Rabbi Shergill, Indian Ocean, Parikrama, Advaita, Hari and Sukhmani, Them Clones, Adil and Vasundhara, Bandish, Sushmit Sen Chronicles, Dhruv Visvanath, Jasleen Royal, Sonam Kalra and Run!! It’s The Kid.
Sushant Singh Rajput, of Kai Po Che fame made a special appearance and appealed for generous donations. “Please donate whatever you possibly can because the
damage is enormous. We need a lot of money for rehabilitation.”
According to Rabbi Shergill, “Whatever happened was beyond anyone’s control and very unfortunate. As an artist, the best I can do is perform and entertain but I really appreciate the response from all the music lovers. It was phenomenal and I am overwhelmed to be part of this cause.” The event which saw some of the biggest names from the music fraternity also had Susmit Sen from the band Susmit Sen Chronicles, the breakaway faction from Indian Ocean. It was the first time that Susmit Sen Chronicles and Indian Ocean performed on one stage post their split. “All of us, the 13 bands and singers who performed, had just one expectation from this fundraiser – to have as many people as possible supporting the cause. It was fantastic to see so many attending it,” said Sen.
So far, we all have seen the misery unfold on television sets and read about it in newspapers but there was a strong urge to do something about it. It was one-of-a-kind event which got all the popular musicians together on one platform for a dual reason – to raise funds as also to entertain supporters.
Subir Malik of Parikrama added, “In the first few days it was unbelievable since nature’s fury was unrelenting. The best we could do as artists of repute was to speak to everyone in the fraternity for collective action. Hence the idea of a fundraiser was born. I expected the event to be successful but to be honest, the numbers were just mind-boggling. I have never seen people lining up at a pub for supporting a cause. It was worth every penny that they donated.”