A rocking evening at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Musical Soiree

When he came on the stage to congratulate us after the performance, I said Kemon Acho and Pranab Mukherjee smiled in response.

His smile is so cute na (sic),” says Sharmin Sultana Sumi, lead vocalist of Chirkutt band as Zebunnisa Humayun Bangash adds, “It was dark and I couldn’t see him during the performance. But just the awareness that the Indian President is sitting in the audience was so special that I will never forget it.”

Chirkutt from Bangladesh, Zebunissa Bangash from Pakistan and Mrigya from India performed recently at Rashtrapati Bhavan as representatives of SAARC countries participating in the South Asian Bands Festival. The festival kicks off in the Capital today.

It was a rare chance to see rock bands perform at the official home of the President of India. “The atmosphere was obviously different as compared to when we play at concerts. The audience was quite serious,” says Sharat Chandra Srivastava, violinist of Mrigya.

“Though I have performed at the President’s House before, but for the band it was the first time and also an honour since we were representing India. Our performance was last among the three and by then a sense of responsibility had crept in our minds. Yet,
we stayed calm and played with complete concentration.”

First performance for the evening was by Chirkutt followed by Zebunissa Bangash. Artistes from both the bands focused on folk genres of their countries.

“But when we announced that we are going to sing Dhano Dhanno Pushpo Bhora which is a patriotic song, I could see the President nod his head expressing his familiarity with the song,” says a jubilant Sumi who considers the opportunity as a dream come true.

All three say that the time given to them was restricted and they had to keep a tab on it. “While singing our composition Ganga, which was originally nine minutes long we consumed 14 minutes. Someone came and whispered in my ear to be quick so we decided to cut one antara of our second song Kabira,” recollects Srivastava adding that for him music is not just about the performance but the time he spent with artistes from
other countries.

Even Sumi and Bangash mention the same while sharing their experiences. Bangash says, “The night before the performance we all practised till quite late and got a chance to spend time with each other and came to know more about our cultures. And a day later when we all stood on the stage collaborating. At the end of our individual performances we didn’t appear like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh but one music family. This is the basic essence of music of the subcontinent!”