Songs encompassing folk, patriotic, devotional, western pop, Bhavageethe, sugama sangeetha predominantly in Kannada and also in Hindi and English from school students across the city reverberated in the packed NGO Hall in Bengaluru on Wednesday..The group singing event, in senior and junior category, was part of the Bengaluru edition of DHIE Expressions – an inter-school talent competition - co-powered by Pilot, with Wonderla Parks & Resorts & Poorvika Mobile as associate sponsors. The participants up to 8 in a group were required to sing for 4 to 6 minutes..The senior category ITI Central School began with a patriotic song which was followed by a Kannada folk song about village life and characters sung by students of Widia Poornaprajna School, Nagasandra. Jubilee English High School, CBSE sang a Kannada folk song..Students of National Public School, Chikkabanavara performed a medley of three western pop songs including the popular Voulez Vous by ABBA and Rasputin by Boney M. National Public School of Koramangala also sung a medley of three popular songs in Kannada, Hindi and a Coldplay Song in English. The all girls group of National Public School, Rajajinagar also chose to sing a three song medley in Kannada, Hindi and English..The South School, J P Nagar sang the song of Siddappaji, a folk hero. The Great Eastern International School chose a poem of the well-known poet N S Lakshminarayna Bhat for their rendition of Bhavageethe..The troupe from RNS Vidyaniketan sang the all time popular devotional song "Taravalla tagi ninna tambouri" by Shishunala Sharif, a revered person of Karnataka.The group from Silicon City Academy of Secondary Education sang "Hum sab Bharatwasi hai" a patriotic song in Hindi. The girl group from Assumption High School sang a medley of two-devotional songs in English - the only devotional songs in English at the event..The trio from MVJ international School, Marthahalli, sang a Kannada folk song, while the students from Seshadripuram High School, Seshadripuram sang a Kannada song in praise of 'father.'Devotional songs were rendered by students of Embassy Public School, SJR Public School, SJR Layout, Seshadripuram High School sang a Hindi song devoted to Shiva. Shiva and Mahadeva appeared to be very popular gods for devotional songs. The students of Jnanakshi Vidyaniketan dedicated their song to Mahadeva traditionally dressed..There was no dearth of patriotism among the students. Sri Ayyappan Education Centre CBSE and East West Academy, Rajajinagar sang patriotic songs and Seshadripuram Public School all sang patriotic songs.The only Bollywood song, "Zindagi ek safar hai suhana" came at the end of the senior section from Mother Dolphin English school..Vidyamandir Education Society, Malleshwaram chose the Hindi patriotic song "Jaya, jaya Bharata Mata" for their rendition.In the junior section folk songs were rendered by ITI Central School, The Great Eastern International School and the South School J P Nagar. While there was no restriction in the genre of song, folk songs appeared to be the most popular among the students and perhaps their mentors.."The DHiE Expressions is a wonderful initiative to get schools together to bring out a sense of understanding of the East and the West. It exposes and encourages the students in fine arts. Schools can identify the potential in students and build it over time. - Dr Sam Kingsley Joshua, Principal and Chief Operating Officer, Baldwin International School.DHiE Expressions is a good initiative of promoting Indian music and culture. It is rare to see an institution undertaking a programme to promote creativity among students. Unlike in the west we do not have exclusive schools of music.- Anurag Gaddi, Hindustani vocalist and music tutor.The DHiE Expressions is a step in the right direction to promote music and other fine arts. What is good and pleasing to the ear is music be it Hindustani, Carnatic or western. Musical talent, represented by Goddess Saraswati, comes to you slowly and once it comes it never goes away.- Nagabhushan Sharma, tabla artiste.Our folk song narrated the story of Siddappaji, a revered folk deity who gave up his life to protect the community from calamities. Our Kannada teacher, who is a good singer, taught us this song.- Samiksha Kiran, The South School, J P Nagar
