Calcutta: Nomoshkar, Kolkata. Kemon achho? asked Paco Mendoza and Don Caramelo of German reggae band Raggabund as the crowd chorused "khub bhalo".
The dancehall party duo were performing for around 550 school students at a concert in Vidya Mandir on Saturday 11 as part of Schools: Partners for the Future (PASCH), an initiative of the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata.
The Calcutta stop was part of the band's South Asian tour with fellow musicians Mikey Board and De Luca of the Swiss band The Dubby Conquerors. The band is on a six-week tour and had been to Pakistan and Sri Lanka before reaching India, where they visited Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Pune and Bengaluru.
In Calcutta, the band rocked the stage with a cover of Despacito and a Calcutta special song written at a beat boxing and song-writing workshop with children on Friday besides its own numbers.
"Kids always respond naturally to music. We mostly do political music but kids respond to it differently. Our workshop has been fabulous. There is so much power and creativity in the students," Caramelo said.
For Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata, this initiative is all about bringing German language closer to the kids. "We have four partner schools as part of PASCH, Modern High School for Girls, Birla High School, The Heritage School and Don Bosco Park Circus. Kendriya Vidyalaya, too, is our partner from another programme. This initiative was mainly for students learning German in these schools," said Anita Mitra, education cooperation officer, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata. "Raggabund was selected for its multi-lingual appeal. They sing in German, Spanish and English. I really didn't expect the kids to enjoy so much."
In between all the music and fun, the band also got up close and personal with Calcutta. "We knew nothing about the city when we came here but overnight we found out so much about Calcutta from the kids. They have showered us with so much love and energy. It has been amazing," said Paco who loved the "shrimp in coconut curry" ( chingri maachher malai curry) and would love to try the "unique dessert", rosogolla. Paco and gang tasted fish fry and mutton curry, bought clothes at New Market and took a yellow taxi ride.
Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata also organised a video clip competition, the prizes for which were given out before the concert. The first prize went to Ishani Basak and Mayukhi Ghosh of Modern High School. "Our experience while making the video was fantastic. The concert was energetic, said Mayukhi, Class IX.
Aschhe bochhor abar hobe, as the duo promised amid much cheering.
