Top artistes to perform in online Ghazal show for cancer aid

India’s top artistes will feature in the much-awaited Khazana ghazal festival – though it will be an online event in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) and the Parents Association Thalassemic Unit Trust (PATUT) will present their annual fundraiser Khazana – a festival of Ghazals, in a unique way. Ghazal aficionados will experience the rich and vibrant performances virtually on 19-20 December, 8 pm onwards.

This year, Khazana will feature a multitude of talents including Anup Jalota, Talat Aziz, Sudeep Banerjee, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Pandit Ajay Pohankar and Abhijit Pohankar, Pooja Gaitonde, young talents Sneha Shankar, Pratibha Singh Baghel and Deepak Pandit.

It will also feature a special act by the Samarpan band featuring Singer Prithvi Gandharv and Gayatri Asokan. The program will also have Khazana Talent Hunt Winners – Ritwika Mukherjee from Chakradharpur (Jharkhand) and Atul Rao from Jaipur (Rajasthan) and the ghazal maestro Pankaj Udhas.

“I hope and am also confident that this year also the show will prove to be a resounding success as in the past,” said Udhas, who is the President of PATUT.

Every year 10,000 children with Thalassaemia Major are born in India, which constitutes 10% of the total number in the world, and one out of every 8 carriers of Thalassaemia worldwide lives in India, he said.

“Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, cancer did not stop at all and nor did CPAA's aid and support to cancer patients. With the help of online networking and technology, we were able to reach out and assist 1,444 cancer patients with medicines amounting to Rs. 1.24 crores. We conducted several virtual entertainment programs for cancer patients especially those afflicted with Covid-19. We hope the wonderful virtual audience of Khazana will continue to support our commitment to help cancer patients by donating generously," said CPAA founder-Chairman YK Sapru.