MEMORABLE EVENTS
It all began with the inaugural concert by maestros Pt Hariprasad Chourasia and Pt Bhavan Shankar setting the stage on fire with their heavenly flute and percussion jugalbandhi…….The Kamani auditorium in Delhi had an audience that was transfixed by the mesmerizing music. Backed by ICCR, Kamal Morarka Foundation and Indian Oil, the programme was eclectic beyond measure.
The second event was the staging of the play ‘When God Said Cheers’, a dialogue between Man and God that was extremely incisive while at the same time being very very humorous. Audi and Sobha Developers were the sponsors. This was staged in March 2014. An earlier show of the same play had been staged at the Country inn. There were subsequent shows of the programme at the Taj in Vadodara and also Lucknow whre I was backed by Volvo Cars, a local real estate firm and BMW respectively.
Another memorable show has been the story of poetess Amrita Pritam which was staged by veteran theatre persona M S Sathyu. A programme again backed by BMW (Deutsche Motoren) at DLF Phase V Club. This was staged in March 2015.
Several enchanting sufi qawwali events
1) Sabri brothers in 2014 at DLF Club V backed by Indusind Bank and Sabri brothers
2) Niazi brothers in 2016 at DLF Club Four backed by Land Rover/jaguar
3) Nizami Brothers in December 2018 at Crown plaza Gurgaon backed by Sobha Developers, as well as a performance backed by Porche in the same month at Chandigarh Golf Club and one in January 2019 at DLF Phase Four Club in January 2019 backed by Volvo Cars
A play by Sadat Hasan Manto from his collection of short stories backed by Kotak Mahindra and Skoda stged in 2015
Sufi rock band performance backed by Citibank and Daikin at DLF Magnolias in June 2015
Qawwali evening and Ghazal evening at DLF Aralias and Magnlias backed by HSBC in October 2015
A riotous comedy ‘Unfaithfully Yours’ directed by Rael Padamsee backed by DLF Camellias
Yet another Urdu play ‘Bae Mian Deewane’ staged at Taj Vivanta in Delhi and backed by Mahindra Lifespace and Powergrid Corp in May 2018 for members of the BRICS Chamber of Commerce
The list goes on with food festivals, poetry reading at INTACH and a whole gamut of interesting trysts with art including visual arts shows and curating a film festival in 2017, june…..And to top it all an Auto fest at Dehradun in October 2018