Under the auspices of the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, a team of businessmen and active community members organized ‘Aaj Ki Shaam Desh Ke Naam’, a musical tribute to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Indian Independence. The organizing committee, comprising of Andrew Thomas, Rajpal Tyagi, Reaven D’Souza, E.D. Titus and Ashok Kalra representing the Mughal Mahal group, in conjunction with the Indian Embassy, created history by holding an event for the first-time ever in the evening of 15th August, the Indian Independence Day.
The beautiful red-stoned Indian Embassy building was also illuminated in the tricolors of the Indian flag to mark this special occasion.
Three talented singers, Dr. Mrudula Joshi Dadhe, Nilesh Prakash Nirgudkar and Rakesh Khurana and a team of six musicians were specially flown in from India to be part of the celebrations.
After a welcome address by Rajpal Tyagi representing the organizing committee, H.E. Sunil Jain, the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait spoke about the concept of the program and its significance to the Indian community in Kuwait. The organizing committee joined Tyagi and the Ambassador on stage to felicitate the artists for the evening that included the singers, as well the musicians Amey Thakurdesai, Digambar Mankar, Manoj Shivling, Ashutosh Dange, Rohit Gaikwad and Suhas Katdare.
Dr. Gargi Jain, wife of the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait accompanied by Mamta Kalra,, Lorraine Thomas, Gauri Tyagi and Najida Reaven did the honors of lighting the ceremonial inaugural lamp.
The evening kicked off with an emotional and touching patriotic number by Joshi. The famous ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ followed by ‘Kar Chale Hum Fida’ by Nirgudkar and ‘Hai Preet Jahan Ki Reet Sada’ by Khurana.
The patriotic numbers flowed into romantic classics, qawaalis and other catchy tunes to keep the audience thoroughly entertained. Joshi’s melodious songs were made even more meaningful with her explanation on the intricacies of tonality, pitch and emotions. Nirgudkar gave glimpse of his talent for whistling songs through the beautiful number ‘Yeh Shaam Mastani’ while taking on challenging numbers like the male duet ‘Ek Chatur Naar’ single-handedly. Khurana, a versatile performer specializing in eclectic genres and singers, sang the Salman Khan song ‘Tere Mast Mast Do Nain’ with just as much ease as the classic ‘Na Moonh Chupa Ke Jiyo’.
Kalra presented the vote of thanks showing his appreciation to all those that were involved in making the event a success, including eminent dignitaries such as Essa Al Essa, former Kuwait Ambassador to India, H.E. Prof. Dr. Shamir Ally, Ambassdor of Guyana, H.E. S.M. Abul Kalam, Ambassador of Bangladesh, H.E. Yagya Bahadur Hamal, Ambassador of Nepal, Charge d’affaires at the Embassy of Bhutan and Abd Rahman Alayan, Editor-in-Chief of Kuwait Times among others.
The evening was conducted fluidly by the master of ceremonies, Nita Bhatkar Chogle and ended on a high note with a passionate rendition of ‘Vande Mataram’ by all the singers, accompanied by the audience joining in, proudly waving Indian flags, which was a fitting end to the patriotic event marking a truly historic occasion.
All the guests were then invited to dinner served courtesy the Mughal Mahal.
– Staff Report