Gaa Mere Mann Gaa - Anth Tak 28

Anthtak 28 ‘Gaa mere man gaa’ was an exhilarating experience, Ram and Rama, Ramya n Ramita. We at Anthtak as a family have reached a stage, where we would probably enjoy music under the sky, without any embellishments. Yet, amongst your busy schedule, you all took out not only the time, but truly showered the love for music and our group.

Rams’ music hall virtually turned into a museum for the evening and what a display it was. It had an amazing collection of the musical greats of Bollywood, right from the Bombay Talkies days. From Himanshu Rai n Pankaj Mullick, Durrani to Shantaram, Md.Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Talat, Mahendra Kapoor, Lata, Asha, Geeta Dutt, Noorjehan, Suraiya, Nuashad, RDB, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Roshan, Shankar Jaikishan, Shakeel Badayuni, Kaifi Azmi, Dilip kumar, Sanjeev kumar, Big B, Dharmendra- it was a visual treat. The captions so wonderfully displayed by Ramya despite the injury in her hand shows the depth of involvement towards Anthtak- it touches our hearts, dear. It was difficult to take our seats as we could not get over the feeling of looking at the pictures again n again n again. Ram- a mammoth effort. The internet can spill out reams n reams of information but to source that info in an apt manner is where the focus lies, thank you for the treat. And what with leaving some gaps to quiz us on personalities , we enjoyed it so much.

The song list was meticulously being maintained by Ramya n am sure will be put up. As for the singing session, it was as successful as ever, we always rock. Special mention must be made of Gopi- your ‘Ajnabee’ was truly amazing-kudos to Aashish too. Versatile Vijay- Saathi na koi manzil, it was so………….. melodious n soul stirring- singer, shayar, dancer n yoga expert too. Venkat’s Bhajan with Vijay’s dance- am running out of words. Duets by Ramya n Vijay, Ramya n Chandra, Rama n Venkat, Bharat’s Vandemataram, Ramya’s Enrique Iglesias- Anthtak- you are a bundle of talents. Tata da tadatada- aaja aaja dil nicchode- u indeed squeezed our hearts with the kaminey dance.

Foodies- so different- Pure South Indian with special delicacies- Upma kozhukattais- a steamed dish, Pongal, chutney, Kesari, rice, rasam, alu sabzi, chips, curd rice pickle. Just delicious. What with Venkat showing a clipping of meeting with Rafi Saab’s daughter, Ram’s Chodo kal ki baaten from Hum Hindustani for Independence day n the National Anthem at the end, we left with a sense of completeness yet incompleteness, the feeling is indescribable. And to just give a feeling of nostalgia, a small quiz on the topic- Musical museum at Ram’s. (Of course- Ram n family, u re not allowed to participate) The first person to give all correct answers will get to sing the 2nd song at Anthtak 29- the first song already has gone to Gopi.

QUIZ

1. An orange coloured chart displayed the Indian flag in the centre with pictures of movies based on freedom around it. How many movies were displayed there?
2. There was a picture displayed that was taken on the sets of ‘Munimji’. Which song’s lyrics feature on this pic?
3. Lata Mangeshkar, Noorjehan and Suraiya with an actor of yesteryears. Who?
4. Johnny Walker on the waterfront with a great singer. Which singer?
5. We all glared at the Sardar for a long time yet could not guess that he was Gulzar. Which all time great film director featured on the same chart?

Write Up by Madhulika Chandrakumar

... and some more photos ...

Pictures - Madhulika Chandrakumar