Tagore's 151st Birth Anniversary celebrations in Jaipur

With Vinnie Kakkar of FLO and Prakash Surana

Tuesday, May 15, 2012: Yesterday evening I arrived from Jaipur. After a long time it'd be a one-night visit to the city.

On May 13, 2012, I initiated an event in collaboration with Shruti Mandal and Ficci Ladies' Organization (FLO) at the Maharana Pratap Auditorium, Vidyashram School, to mark the 151^st Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. 
Many artists and musicians assembled to pay respects to Tagore. Live performances of various arts were staged with Arjun Prjapati putting up a sculpture of Tagore while Ikraam Rajasthani recited a Rajasthani version of Gitanjali.

With singer Manesha Agarwal

Madhu Bhatt Tailang presented dhrupad on the poems of Tagore. Manjari Kiran Mahajani presented Kathak dance based on poems from Gitanjali. Artist Surendra Pal Joshi made sketches of Tagore on the stage. Niru Chabra’s Miniature of Tagore on a grain of rice was an added attraction while Abdul Hanif Usta created images of Tagore on camel skin.

Manesh Agrawal sang a verse in hindi from Gitanjali. Vishwamohan Bhatt had composed the music for this song based on a poem from Gitanjali translated in Hindi. Kathak peformed by Manjiri was aslo based on Gitanjali and especially composed for this event by someone in Pune.

A short play Gandhareer Aavdan written by Tagore and directed by Ashok Rahi was also staged. The event was well attended by familiar faces in the fields of art, literature and culture. The overall response was good.

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