Visitors at a Rangoli Exhibition by Ashish Srivash and Giridhar Vaishno, artists from Chhattisgarh, at Santulal Pustkalaya. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Musical evenings organised by ?Gharowa? are becoming more regular. The 20th sitting on May Day presented both children and veterans. Kathak dance was presented by Sulagna Roy and Debmita Chaudhary. A guitar recital by Shatabdi Sarkar followed before the veterans took over. Subhashish Mitra?s vocal rendition in raag Malkauns followed by thumri in raag Peelu enthralled the select audience. He was ably supported on the tabla by Sachidanand Majumdar. The icing on the cake was a sitar recital by Chirsatva Thakur. The evening was also marked by the organisation felicitating veteran Rabindrasangeet singer Probir Lahiri.

The same evening ladies of Rotary Club (Ranchi North) organised a ?unity in diversity? evening. Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff, a Dutch social scientist married to an Indian, who is also the director (research) at Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), introduced the theme. It was informed that she is also a part-time ballet trainer in Ranchi.

Chief guest at the evening, Kavita Behari, spoke in Sarnami, a language similar to Bhojpuri and spoken in Surinam. She also dwelt at length about her experience there. Songs by the Pahal club, Kanke, and dance presented by Trishla Sinha were the other highlights. The finale was provided by Sulochana Shahdeo who rendered songs in both Hindi and English and flitted effortlessly from classical to semi-classical songs. She brought the evening to a close with evergreen songs from the film Sound of Music.

The holiday was utilised by the Malyalee Association to organise a get-together at Kairali school. Following the presidential address by P.G.P. Nair, members presented Ganmela performed by Omankuttam, Rema Rajan, Vijayalakshmi, Deepu, Nandkumar and others. Varsha Verma and Rashmi Radhakrishnan presented a classical dance, which was followed by a ?musical ball?.

Another interesting event that wowed the visitors was a ?Rangoli competition? held at Santulal Library. The women conjured up enchanting pictures and images on the floor with a riot of colours. The competition organised by All-India Marwari Women?s Organisation, drew women from all over the state. Neither paint nor brush was used but the women used bare hands and colour-dust to draw portraits of Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha and women in different situations. One of them was depicted crying. But an absolute stunner was one made under water.

Forthcoming events

For martial music, marching and patriotic songs, visit the Raj Bhavan on Saturday, May 7 at 5 pm. A brass band of the Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry Regimental Centre will also be playing tunes like Fanfare, Soliloquy, Overtures, Marriage of Figaro etc.

Good news for Bhojpuri music lovers. Manoj Tiwari of the ?Folk Jalwa? fame will sing at the Jaipal Singh stadium on Monday, May 9. The programme has been organised by Jharkhand Youth Organisation.

Majlis is organising an evening of Rabindrasangeet at Jawaharlal Nehru Kala Kendra on May 9.

Chhotanagpur Art & Research Development Society (CARDS) will organise a painting exhibition this month, which will feature around 70 exhibits of artists who participated in ?Palash 05?, held from April 6 to 8, at Ranchi Club. Some of the eminent painters whose paintings will be displayed are Suvaprasanna, B.R. Paneshwar, Shakuntala Kulkarni, Archana Handa, Pulak Biswas and Usha Biswas. The paintings will also be put on sale. The money generated through the sale will be utilised to organise future activities.

Darpan will organise a Bengali drama festival at Jawaharlal Nehru Kala Kendra on May 7 and 8.