World Music Day filled Fateh Sagar’s Shakti Sunday stage with melodious energy from a wide range of traditions from rock and Indian classical to Bollywood and tribal Gavari songs.
Rajasthan Patrika’s PIE (Patrika In Education) participants filled the stage with upbeat tunes and a talented swarm of young guitarists exploring a diversity of styles.
Two other crowd-pleasing segments were offered by Arbuda Kala Mandir’s wonderful young musical artists and a precocious crew of children studying with Rajeev Shrivastav that provoked both dancing and cheers.
Flutist/poet Chitrang and his group delighted the crowd with touching poetry and fine musicianship in a variety of moods and configurations.
Santoor master Lalit Verma and tabla virtuoso Akhilesh Sharma presented a spirited jugalbandhi that elevated the entire audience with their verve.
The evening also showcased a tuneful array of past “Udaipur’s Got Talent!” winners bringing the first “UGT!” season to a fruitful and auspicious close. Mr. Usha Nath Sanadhya also offered the best three young acts of the evening small cash prizes in loving memory of his late wife Smt. Usha Sanadhya; and Sri Kailash Soni offered similar awards for the best acts on June 6th.
The final highlight of the evening was announcement of the world’s first English book on Gavari by Udaipurite Harish Agneya. Gavari is Mewar’s centuries-old ecstatic folk opera of the Bhil tribe that is enacted in hundreds of villages around Udaipur each fall. Harish-ji said the book will be available locally and internationally after its formal launch on August 15th and he also showed a dynamic 15-minute excerpt from his 13 part Gavari video series.
Eager dancing children again took over the closing stage and the crowd was reminded to come again on July 6th for the last Shakti Sunday of the season before the monsoon break. The final theme will be “Youth & Creativity” and present inspiring young artists, innovators and activists from Udaipur and around the world. More details will be published soon on their facebook.com/shaktisundays website.