Dohar’s earthy numbers echo at Gorky Sadan

the russian consulate presented their version of india's republic day celebrations on monday. the russian sense of time was evident as the programme started at six sharp with the welcome address by the director of the russian consulate, yuri zozulya. the star attraction of evening was the city-based folk band, dohar. this is for the republic day and dohar's folk numbers are so representative of everything that is true of the great indian tradition of folk, said gautam ghosh from the russian consulate.this was no exaggeration. those who made it to gorky sadan inspite of the rain were overwhelmed. the stage designed a la trademark dohar style with kites and murals of folk art is always such a perfect backdrop to their kind of music was in place, as at all their shows. in true folk tradition, dohar started off with their invocation — their bandana — and went on to present various traditional folk numbers of the north east, songs from the tea gardens of assam, purulia, birbhum, in the traditional musical arrangement. a good number of nris, who were present, were quite taken with the performance of the band. joy, vocalist of the band said, this is one of the best audiences we've ever performed for. we guess it was a mutual admiration society alright!