JOIN USThe festive season is on and people of all communities are busy celebrating it in their own way. The good news for the music lovers in the City is that there are plenty of cultural programmes to make note of and attend.
The Poorva Bangalore Cultural Association will see a lot of music being performed at the VSR Convention Hall. On shashti, there will be an evening of contemporary Bengali music by Haimanti Shukla while on ashtami, classical music will be performed by Aditya Vittal. On navami, there will be rabindra sangeet by Jayati Chakraborty as well as a concert by Kolkata-based folk-fusion band, ‘Krosswindz’.
Bengalis in Bangalore will ensure that musical extravaganza will be an everyday scene. Across the four days of celebrations, there will be a performance by Madhushree Boral, a mouth organ recital by Susobhon and performances by Bangla rock band Alpin and fusion band Sikara.
‘Durga Puja 2012’, being organised by The Bengalee Association at RBANMS Grounds, Ulsoor, will see all kinds of musical performances — from traditional boithoki gaan by Shilpi Chattopadhyay on October 22 to the concert on October 23 by Bangla rock band ‘Cactus’.
What is interesting is that different parts of Bangalore boast of their own celebrations, which means music of different sorts across the City throughout the festival.
Kanakpura Road Bengali Association (KARBA) is going to have its ‘Aamader Pujo’ festival, with different traditional programmes lined up for each evening. While Kolkata-based Bangla rock band Dhumketu will perform on saptami, Bangalore’s very own band Aurko will do a rock show on ashtami. Priyanka Mitra, of ‘Indian Idol’ fame, will present a
musical night of Bollywood hits of the last 25 years on navami.
“For a long time, we wondered why we do not have Durga Puja in this part of Bangalore. A few of us like-minded people came together to start Kolkata Pujo last year. We wanted to ensure that people have enough opportunities for addabaaji, fun, and celebrations at our puja venue,” says Rajib Roy, general secretary, KARBA.
The Sarjapur Outer Ring Road Bengali Association will also be having its own musical functions at ALT Training College. The versatile singer Rupankar Bagchi will perform on October 20, while Kolkata’s beloved rock band ‘Fossils’ will play on October 23. Arijit Chowdhury, of the Electronic City Cultural Association, is quite excited about the upcoming festivities. “For the first time, Electronic City will also be celebrating Durga Puja with great pomp and show in the form of Sharod Utsav. We started this with the vision of getting the whole community together on this auspicious occasion,” he says. At Sharod Utsav, Kolkata rockers ‘Krosswindz’ will be performing on saptami, while Dhumketu will play on ashtami and Aurko on dashami.
RT Nagar Sarbajanin Durga Puja Samiti will host a musical concert by Haimanti Shukla, a playback singer from Kolkata on saptami and the much-anticipated evening of Bangla rock by Chandrabindoo on navami.