COLOUR MY WORLD – A MUSICAL EVENING BY THE VISUALLY CHALLENGED

It was an unusual evening for Chennaites. An evening which proved that no matter what, one can fight the odds and come out a winner provided he has the determination to do it.

This was amply evident at the fundraiser organised by Madras Round Table No. 1 and the National Association for the Blind. The musical evening by the visually challenged orchestra called Comaganin Raaga Priya, was an aural treat considering the fact that the orchestra consisted of a visually challenged group.  No lyrics or music notes were used.

The show began with an invocatory dance by the celebrated danseuse Anita Ratnam. “Loss of Sight is not to be pitied, but should be dealt with compassion and love” - these were her opening words as she began her dance -‘Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya’ (from darkness lead me to light). Anita’s choreography was lack lustre. The drab costume in saffron did little to bring life to her dance. Her participation however reflected her feelings towards the handicapped, which is noteworthy.

The show had some star playback singers like Unnikrishnan, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Harini and Devan joining for the singing session. To add to the glamour, popular television personalities - Uma Padmanabhan andSwarnamalaya Ganesh compered the show.

The musical evening began with Nithyasree Mahadevan singing the popular hit number from the film Jeans- ‘Kannodu Kanbadhellam’. Needless to say, with her effervescent voice, she set the right mood for the evening. The next singer was Devan, the enthusiastic youngster groomed in the United States who is making a mark for himself in the world of Tamil playback singing. He sang the popular number ‘Smileyayi’, again from the film Kandukondein Kandukondein. He continued urging the audience to join him in the peppy song ‘Macmacmacarina’.

The next performer was Harini, who gave her first superhit song at the age of 13. Endowed with a husky voice she sang ‘Manamvirumbude’, ‘Elelangadi Elelangadi’, ‘Megam Karukkuthu’ and ‘Tum pas Aaye’. The last to enter among the star performers was Unnikrishnan. Nattily dressed in an ethnic ensemble, he sang some popular numbers like ‘Hai re hai re hai rabba’ from Jeans.  Singing in a full-throated voice, he had the audience in raptures.

Comaganin Raaga priya also delivered some well-known numbers that included ‘Santhana Thendral’, ‘Ilvayathu Poonkate’, ‘Vaseekara’ and a few hits like ‘Mere Sapno Ki Rani’ and ‘Tujhe Dekha To Yeh Jana Sanam’. The three male and female singers from Raaga Priya did a splendid job of singing, as well as providing chorus for the star singers.Sarat Kumar and wife Radhika graced the occasion.

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