Nashid performs in Benaras

When renowned Bangladeshi singer Dr. Nashid Kamal began her performance with ‘Padmar dheu re’, followed by a Hindi version of this Nazrul geeti, the audience on the banks of Ganges in Benaras were enthralled. She then sang `Jaja re pagal manwa’ a bandesh in raag Yaman, teentaal, taught to her by her guru Pandit Jasraj. This was followed by two Urdu ghazals, `aaj jane ki zid na karo’ and `woh mujhse huye hum kalam’.  The academician-cum-singer then went on to render another Nazrul song Sreejono chhonde anonde’, followed by Naser Kazmi’s ghazal `Tere kheyalse’. She then presented a Hindi bhajan `Sumeerankar le, mere mana’, ending with the famous bhatiali of Abbasuddin Ahmed `O amar dorodi, age janle’, along with Hindi translation.  A priest from the temple nearby brought her a `rudrakkher mala’ and spoke the mind of the audience, “In your songs, we got both sur and shanti.”  The programme was in observance of the third residency by the organization `Art beyond Borders’, organised by Sandhya Singh Parmar.   Six Bangladeshi artists Jamal Ahmed, Moniruzzaman, Farida Hasan, Vineeta Karim, Ranjit Das and Sultan Ishtiaq were invited alongside the artists from India Jatin Das, Sudip Roy, and Radhika Surana.  Sandhya hopes that soon it will turn into a SAARC event.  The first artist for the evening was Anjana Roy from Kolkata, a student of Pandit Ajay Chakrabarty who began her repertoire with raga `Maru Bihag’ in Vilambit and treetal, followed by tarana and a bhajan.