Lucknowites perform for a cause in a music fest!

To honour humanity and the belief that goodness still exists in the world, a non-profit organisation recently hosted a one of its kind music festival, Kasturi. Distinguished individuals from various fields performed at the event in support of the cause.

Anju Naraian, Pooja Agrwal and Tazeen Husain

Alok Dhawan, Ajay Jain and Deepak Dikshit

Anukriti Mohan and Seema Mohan

Commencing with the Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah peace prayer, the core team members of the foundation and the audience joined hands together to begin the musical fest. The first performance was a Ganesh Vandana and a kathak performance, which mesmerised the audience. Shachi Singh, the force behind the foundation, conveying her gratitude to the audience, said, “ The message of this fest is to tell people that we all have that goodness in ourselves which we keep on searching for in our lives just like Kasturi Mrig. Let’s come together to search and celebrate compassion and humanity.” The eminent personalities present in the audience included Simran Sahni, Bhupesh Rai, Shreya Prakash, Shubhra Mittal, Ruchi Kapur, Kusha Das, Shubhangi Shukla and Nidhi Prakash, among many others.
31 melodic performances of the music fest in all, were a blend of various musical styles, from traditional bandishein and devotional songs, to Begum Akhtar’s timeless Hamari Atariya Pe performed by Kasturika Mishra. The evergreen song Yaad Aa Raha Hai Tera Pyar sung by Vijay Agnihotri had the audience dancing to the beats.

(L) Nidhi Prakash (R) Shachi Singh

(L) Bhupesh Rai and Anupam Mittal (R) Nandza Yadav

(L) Shilpa Mehrotra and Ruchi Kapur (R) Shubhra Mittal

(L) Surbhi Modi and Sangita Jaiswal (R) Ashvi Jain and Avichal Kapur

City folks were also spotted enjoying the exhibition put up by a subunit of the foundation. Some other stalls also included Lucknow-based artists, homemakers and entrepreneurs exhibiting their products. The event was fueled by delectable food stalls put up by famous brands and restaurants and also home cooks.

Anisha Jain and Vikas Singh

Bulbul Godial and Tahira

Bhoopesh Rai, one of the core team members, said, “We are not professionals but we all have come together to perform for a cause in this musical fest.
-Amina Ashraf

Deepali Agarwal (L) and Madhumita Bose

Shubhangi Shukla (L) and Simran Sahni