IIT-IIM Alumni Association Kuwait organised Musical Extravaganza

Monday, June 6, 2016

The Sound of Music With Famous Bollywood Singers Shrikant Narayan and Nirupama Dey

IIT-IIM Alumni Association, Kuwait, in association with the Indian Embassy organized a grand musical evening at the Indian Embassy Auditorium on Friday, the 27th May, 2016. They regaled themselves thoroughly in the august company of their sponsors, friends and guests from Indian Embassy, Chartered Accountants Association and Indian Business and Professional Council, Kuwait. The stars of this grand musical extravaganza were the two renowned Bollywood Singers Mr. Shrikant Narayan and Miss Nirupama Dey who enthralled the audience by meandering them through a mellifluous journey of beautiful nostalgic journey of Hindi songs ably backed by Mr. Anand Kapadia.

The general perception of the public is - the IITians and IIMites only know how to solve equations and provide solutions to complex problems. Contrary to this popular misconception, very few know that the best big blockbuster budget cultural festivals of highest quality at the collegiate level are being held on the campuses of these elite institutions with students from every part of the country participating with youthful exuberance. The IIT-IIM Association in Kuwait conducts one musical event every year. True to their penchant for reveling in music, this year too, the IIT-IIM Alumni Association organized a lovely melodious light music event very aptly titled “The Sound of Music”.

The Event began with Bhushan Joshi, welcoming and outlining the program of nostalgic journey of sweet tunes of musical legends. He presented a brief introduction of the two Bollywood singing stars of the evening, Shrikant popularly known as “The voice of Rafi” and a limca book of record holder for non-stop singing of Rafiji songs and Nirupama Dey, a Zee sare-ga-ma-pa contest finalist and their accompanying musicians Mr.Sanjay Marathe and Vinayak Mangde from India along with local tabla and dholak players. He also introduced Mr. Anand Kapadia, the General Secretary of IPBC, who is well known for his melodious voice among the connoisseurs of music in Kuwait.

Mr. Peeyush Jain, the President of IIT-IIM Association welcomed the chief guest, Mr.K.K.Pahel, First Secretary of the Indian Embassy, followed by all the sponsors, dignitaries, guests and members. Mr.Jain said that the IITs and IIMs are the prime institutions of India which have their own place, reputation, value and name in the field of education not just in India but globally as well. He equated the venerable great stalwarts of the nation in the field of music like S D Burman, Naushad, Majrooh Sultanpuri, R.D.Burman, Lata Mangeskar, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Hemant Kumar and others, who composed or sang finest and best evergreen songs to IITs & IIMs of music industry, as these personalities were great institutions in themselves - Indian Institute of Musical Greats. He said through this “Sound of Music” event they have tried to bring alive some of their musical rhapsody, which everyone will surely enjoy.

The Chief Guest Mr. K. K. Pahel, thanked the Association and congratulated them in organizing this event. He addressed the gathering and extolled the service rendered by IITians and IIMites, and valued the reputation they have built globally. He urged them to take time off their rigors of work and spend some time enjoying themselves with other activities as well as serve the society and the less privileged fellow citizens, especially in Kuwait.

Once the stars of the event Shrikant and Nirupama took the stage, the audience were treated to best of melodious music from the yesteryears of Hindi cinema for over three hours. Shrikant, who keeps alive the voice of immortal Rafiji in this present era, lived up to his reputation. Ms. Nirupama with her sweet voice sang beautiful numbers. Both did some lovely popular duets also. The crowd was mesmerized and appreciated the singers through their rhythmic clapping and group singing. Both the artistes have a knack of keeping the audience glued to their performance by constantly interacting and inviting them to sing along. Mr. Anand too sang lovely numbers of Mukesh. The event ended with a beautiful popular chorus number “Ramaiah Vastavayya”. Sure, the audience were shouting “dil mage more”, but could not be obliged due to their tight prior travel plans. They sang with utmost enthusiasm, and divinity, keeping their minds and souls in the audiences’ hearts. It was an outstanding performance.

IIT-IIM Alumni Association, Kuwait is growing day by day with the full commitment and dedication of all the members and the Core Committee. This event was a great success as large audience was thoroughly entertained. Singing can transform the chores into choirs. No wonder, be it prayer, work on the paddy fields, performing rituals of festivals and marriages, while drenching in the rains, we have always had in our DNA to sing and dance and is a part and parcel of our rich unique resplendent Indian culture. You can witness this in every nook and corner of India – literate or illiterate - rich and poor – North or South - East or West – in the moments of joy, sorrow or even nonchalance. This event exactly achieved that. The audiences received maximum doses of endorphin and oxytocin rush, exciting their neurotransmitters, transcending them to higher levels of musical euphoric ecstasy, soothing the negative stresses emanating from the pressures either from routine or sudden surges of challenging situations or tasks and bringing down the cortisol levels.

Finally, the event ended with Mr. Sanjay Fuller, General Secretary of the Association proposing vote of thanks. He began by thanking the overseas artistes for their amazing mesmerizing melodious performance. He thanked His Excellency Mr. Sunil Jain, Ambassador of India, Mr. K.K.Pahel, the Embassy Staff, Main Event Partner, M/s KGL and other sponsors – M/s Essar Projects, M/s Gromore, M/s Orange Communications, M/s Transcrate, and M/s Taal. He thanked Mr. Nixon for the fine audio-visual system arrangement and logistical support, and the Embassy support staff for the venue backing. Last but not the least he reserved a special appreciation for Mr. Anand Kapadia for his great support as well as for his melodious performance by singing lovely heart touching Mukesh songs. He thanked his fellow core committee members and the members for their supporting efforts in making this program a grand success. The attendees of the event were treated a sumptuous dinner from M/s Taal.

Mr. Vishwanath Pichumoney, Deputy CFO of M/s KGL, our Event Partner, gave a valuable message to all those present urging them to pursue not just wealth but to balance it with inborn and cultivated talent in pursuit of arts, sports, knowledge as these qualities and assets keep us happy, satisfied and refresh the mind, body and souls.

Earlier during the interval, the President, Mr. Peeyush Jain, felicitated the artistes and sponsors. He also presented them mementos as a token of appreciation.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) are globally renowned premier Indian institutions of higher education in the fields of Engineering Technology and Management, respectively. The association can be reached at [email protected] or the official website www.iitiimkuwait.com.

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