On birthday, ex-mayor Kundatai gets musical tribute

NAGPUR: In this season of festivals, this one celebrated motherhood. The programme 'Aai' was a fitting tribute to a mother by her grateful daughters. At the receiving end of all this love and affection was the first woman Mayor of Nagpur Kundatai Vijaykar and the occasion was her 70th birthday. Anita Vijaykar and Anuja Kedar, through this musical programme that had its 25{+t}{+h} show in Nagpur, conveyed their gratitude to their illustrious mother at a function organized at Sai Sabha Gruh on Monday.
'Aai' has been conceptualized by well known city singer Datta Harkare and is a mix of some 25 songs, all in praise of mother. "I set this programme as a tribute to my mother when she passed away after a brief illness. Whenever I have presented this on stage, it has been very well received by the audience," said Harkare. The surprise presence of Padmaja Phenany Joglekar, who mesmerized the audience with an impromptu rendition of 'kaye sangu bai mahairacha thaat' added to the grace of this event.
The rendering of numbers like premswarup aai, dev jari maan, nijalya taanawari by singers Datta Harkare, Vinya Nandedkar, Smita Joshi and Anuja Kedar cast an emotional spell on the audience. The collection of devotional songs jai jai hey jagdambe maata and Gyandev bal maza were selected for a spiritual effect. But it was the racy tujh ko nahi dekha hamne kabhi and the soulful nibodacha jhada mage sung by Anuja Kedar that truly underlined the sentiment of the evening.