Morning glory to the festival of light

PUNE: When started about 15 years ago, the programme was meant to bring together people and make Diwali a community festival. Today, the Diwali Pahat' does that and a lot more, including offering music aficionados in the city a taste of what they love the most traditional classical music performed by the best of the best."Diwali used to be celebrated in a very family-centric mannerearlier. So we came up with the idea of a programme that would bring togetherthe entire community. We then thought on the lines of a musical programme sinceMarathi-speaking people have a strong connection to music," says Satish Desai ofTridal. Desai, considered to be a pioneer of the concept Diwali Pahat',organised the first programme which saw noted singer Suresh Wadkar performing."It had very poor response, but it grew since then and today, thousands ofpeople attend the almost 25 Diwali Pahat' programme organised every year," saysDesai. Interestingly, a number of other cities have taken inspiration from theconcept to organise similar programmes during Diwali.Pahat' meansearly morning hours, and a Diwali Pahat' events is essentially organised in themorning hours. This year, the programme organised by Tridal will see renownedvocalist Pt Jasraj performing. The event, to be held at the BalgandharvaRangmandir on October 17 at 5.30 am, will also include a felicitation ceremonyto honour some prominent Punekars. "We started felicitating prominent Punekarsin an attempt to make the programme different from others," saysDesai.Another programme organised on October 17 will be held at theYashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha at 6 am. "The programme is titled Ghar majhyamanatla' and will include different programmes revolving around the themeincluding music, dance and drama. Subodh Bhave, Sharvari Jamenis and AshwiniEkbote, among others, will be part of the programme," says Sunil Mahajan, whohas organised a number of similar pahat' programmes in the past.TheYahswantrao Chavan Pratishthan too has organised a Diwali pahat' on October 17,called Rangarang'. Flautist Amit Kakade and sitarist Prasad Gondkar will performa jugalbandi in a programme to be held at Sarasbaug at 5.30 am. The programmewill also include some Hindi and Marathi songs to be performed by JitendraBhuruk. On the occasion, prominent cartoonist Mangesh Tendulkar will bepresented with the Diwali Pahat' award.Event organiser SantoshPotdar too has organised a similar programme on October 19. "Well-known andmuch-loved flautist Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia will perform in this year'sprogramme. He will be accompanied by Vijay Ghate on tabla, Pt Bhavanishankar onpakhwaj and Sunil Avchat on flute. The pahat has become an integral part of theDiwali celebrations in the city," says Potdar.The Rotaract club ofPune Mid East too has organised a pahat' on October 19 with vocalists SudhirPhadke and Shridhar Phadke on the grounds of the Renuka Swaroop high school at5.45 am."Thousands of people attend the pahat' programmes and sharetheir love for music and celebrate Diwali together. That is what the aim of thepahat' in the first place," says Desai.