Tabla exponent Bickram Ghosh jams with vocalist Nirmalya Dey (right) and S. Sekhar (left) during their Rhythmscape act. Picture by Pabitra Das

What: A musical and ballet night by Bickram Ghosh and Tanushree Shankar Dance Company in aid of Asha School, a school for disabled children of serving and retired army personnel and civilians.

When: November 10, 6pm.

Where: James Prinsep’s memorial at Prinsep Ghat on the banks of the river Hooghly that wore a golden look as the columns of the monument were lit exclusively for the performance.

Organised by: Bengal Area Headquarters and Army Wives’ Welfare Association (AWWA). The event was arranged by Cherry Tree.

What we saw: Seated comfortably amidst an assortment of rhythm instruments, Bickram Ghosh with his Rhythmscape members started off the soiree with his all-drum jam. Beginning with his original act Dance of Shiva, inspired by Lord Shiva’s taandav dance and set loosely on raga jog, he moved on to some of his older fusion formats like Zinc, fusing two diverse genres in raga megh and jazz traditions, followed by Gangotri, set to the early morning raga mishra-bhairavi, to celebrate the rivers of India.

The second half of the evening had Tanushree Shankar’s dance troupe swaying and bending to the choreography piece Chirantan with excerpts from Tagore’s literary works narrated by Amitabh Bachchan reinforcing the message of love, peace and spirituality. It was an evening of pure aural and visual pleasure, of strident steps and rhythms at the unique venue, which turned out to be the real draw of the evening.

The lawn on the waterfront was brimming with nearly 600 guests comprising army officers, their wives and children apart from students of Asha School. Some of the known faces spotted were Jaya Seal Ghosh and her son Adit; Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of CAB; businessman Sundeep Bhutoria; Major General A.M. Verma, GOC Bengal area; Lieutenant General V.K. Singh and Ajai Puri, CEO of Airtel in Bengal. Guests also took turns to browse through paintings and handicrafts by students of Asha School displayed in a corner of the lawn.

Voiceover: “The show is for the cause of raising funds for differently-abled children. We want them to be useful to society and this evening is for them,” said Major General A.M. Verma.

Mohua Das