Srishti Day 2014

Srishti Day 2014 Let me - before someone else does - recap last evening’s Srishti Day celebrations. The event per se took place yesterday but the Yoga Room, the Gym, the sit-out, and some apartments, never witnessed more buzz than in the past month with Srishti-ites ranging from toddlers to a septuagenarian agog with rehearsals. The programme, slated to start at 5 pm, took off on the dot an hour later. Soon the area was jam-packed with parents and siblings wielding cameras, videos, Ipods. The tent contractor had erected a sturdy stage that was just one meter short of a football ground length, and was exceedingly well decorated. “The best so far,” said one. If only the mike had been a little cooperative, it would have been a sone pe suhaga (icing on the cake – Google). But it chose to disown us at regular intervals. “We too should settle the contractor’s bill in instalments,” quipped a tit for tat observer. Surekha rendered the invocation song – a soothing number from Anup Jalota’s Bhajan collections. The still-a-learner Sujata gave an able keyboard support. A series of entertaining programmes followed. The toddlers dance, ever a feast for the eyes, was well received despite the youngest in the centre standing unmoved gazing what in the world her other friends in the stage were doing. The dance of the five-to-eight year group girls in glittering costume was nothing short of a professional performance. So were the dances of others in varying age groups, not to omit the ones by the office-going menfolk, another by the ladies and, not the least, by seniors. Was it dance all the way? No, not at all. There were children and adolescents who could run their nimble fingers through the keyboards and violin strings to reproduce some of the popular English and Hindi numbers. There was a skit by the ladies on ‘10 years in Srishti’, another by the young ones on the judicious use of the depleting water supply, talks by veterans (the earliest settlers in Srishti), question-answer sessions with the audience in between programmes… Had a panel of judges been asked to pick the best programme, perhaps that would have been the toughest job. When I named to a discerning observer two events for a possible top slot, he quipped, “Well, I would short-list three, and unfortunately you couldn’t view the third yourself.” Inwardly I felt happy the programme where I featured had not misfired, but pretended to refute him. Last but not the least, the food was good. Post-dinner, one could see a contended face among those who had a paisa vasool agenda. V.V. Sundaram B-703 03 Aug 2014