Sangeet Natak Akademi's 50th anniv bash an absolute disaster

LUCKNOW: In an utterly embarrassing end to what should have been grand celebrations, the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Sangeet Natak Akademi in Lucknow turned into a disaster on Wednesday. The event failed to draw a crowd to 'Dharohar', the recital. Once the classical music performance by Nirala and Matwala Mishra Malik groups began, one of the performing artistes repeatedly left the stage to attend incessant phone calls.
As if this was not bad enough, minister of state for culture with independent charge, Arun Kumari Kori, with complete disregard to protocol or courtesy, left the auditorium midway through the performance-allegedly, to attend a family function-which led to chaos among the already thin crowd. Once the mess settled and the Braj folk dance artistes from Mathura, Gitanjali Sharma and her troupe, began their performance, it was cut short because of poor quality recording. An eye witness to the entire drama said, "The artistes started their dance performance but their music record was so bad they were unable to continue for longer than a few minutes. The performance was stopped as the CD had to be changed before it resumed."
Interestingly, this is not the first time complaints of poor paraphernalia have emanated from the SNA grounds in Lucknow. The country's premier institute to encourage the performing arts is responsible for preserving and promoting the vast intangible heritage of India's diverse culture expressed in the forms of music, dance and drama. Despite the rich tradition, however, the Lucknow chapter is in a shambles.