Palaash Sen star attraction at Independence celebration

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) Hindi singer Palaash Sen was the star attraction of a event to celebrate 60 years of Independence.

His fusion of 'Saare Jaaha se achcha..' with the folk singers was a very good way of expressing patriotic feelings in the contemporary context.

The saga of freedom struggle was beautifully represented by the folk artists from all over India in a three day "Bharat Utsav" programme from August 14 to 16 organised by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, at Talkatora stadium here.

The celebration started with a fusion of Vande Mataram... and the colourful folk traditional Langa song-Des mane pyaro lago des-presented by Jaipu Khan Langa and group.

On the occasion Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit were present.

About 800 colourful folk artists from various corners of the country presented the saga with the help of Katha Vachakas(i.e. the traditional storytellers) Raas of Manipur, Bhavai dance of Rajasthan and Badhai dance which is very popular in Madhya Pradesh.

Folk dancers from Gaur Maria of Chhattisgarh,Tamil Nadu, Assam Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana and Punjab also added colour to the celebration.

Talking about the occasion, Sindhu Mishra, the programme coordinator told UNI, "We often see the fusion of western and eastern music but today you will see the great fusion of different Indian music itself." While talking about the motto behind the programme,she added, "During freedom struggle, the most effective communication tools were all these katha Vachakas, folk music and dance so today when we celebrate 60 years of independence, we have tried to recreate that magic by all the folks which is our root and inspiration." The stadium which has almost 5000 seat capacity was not enough for the huge audience. Hundreds of people watched and enjoyed the programme standing for hours. The organisers had to even close the main gate of the stadium to control the rush. But people were so eager that no one compained of not getting a seat.

UNI