From the inevitable ‘paan’ and the Hukkah to the oft-repeated ‘Phele Aap’ and high calibre poetry, it was an evening that rekindled memories of Lucknow, with people re-living a bygone era of pure goodwill and mutual respect.
It was an evening that Hamiltonians would not forget for some time, perhaps it is restaged next year.
Organised by the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Waikato and Indianz Global Women & Family Group, programme called, Shaam-E-Awadh, had a 25-strong contingent from Auckland, about half of who were renowned musicians.
Among the performers were Arun Khotkar, Brijender Sagar, Hemant Thaker, Shobha Pathak, Vivek Anturkar (Auckland) and a host of poets and performers from Hamilton.
Labour MP Dr Ashraf Choudhary and his wife Samina were Guests of Honour at the event held at the Celebrating Age Centre.
The programme comprised a Ganapathi Vandana (an invocatory number dedicated to Lord Ganesh), recitation of poems and music performances by Dr Anis ur Rehman, Arun Khotkar, B K Madan, Brijinder Sagar, Davender Sahni, Mohammed Taqi Mehdi, Dr Rulia Singh Sidhu, Santosh Sharma, Shobha Pathak, Som Nath Gupta and Viraj Maki.
The Mushaira (Poems) comprised the compositions of Faiz Ahmed, Sahir Ludhianvi, Shakeel Badayuni and Zameer Jafri.
-From a Report by Suman Kapoor, our Waikato Correspondent.
Auckland artistes Vivek Anturkar, Arun Khotkar, Vijay Kumar Murthy and Shobha Pathak at the Hamilton event.
