Anjana and Arnav bring out the "child" in all of us

Those of you who missed the Children's Day Celebration at the Puttenahalli Lake on 17th Nov. really did miss something! Anjana Padmanabhan, the winner of Indian Idol Jr. 2013 is a pleasure to listen to. What a voice, what singing! She is a professional performer at this young age! 

Anjana (Pic: Jaishree)

The drum jam led by Ashirwad Achrekar and his 14 year old son, Arnav, was packed with energy. And boy! Did the audience revel in it!

Arnav and Ashirwad (Pic: Jaishree)

What was particularly heartwarming to us was the number of new faces in the audience. It seemed that the community was coming together to celebrate children's day at the lake. 

The audience (Pic: Jaishree)

Our sincere thanks to Anjana, Arnav and Ashirwad, and to Jaishree Govind and S.K. Srinivas who took the photographs and videos. 

Here are two reports on the event from our volunteers. 

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From N. Raj

"Saturday Evening ...Gazebo of Puttenahalli lake tucked amidst concrete jungle of the city.. people of all age groups having gala time for the wonderful music so much that all the living creatures resonated with lots of joy.. the flora and fauna danced to the tunes of the music .. 

Age is just a number as everyone were dancing to the tune.. (a few dance through their heart)

It had singing to dancing to drumjam to keep up the fun . The photographers would have had a gala time as they didn't to say 'say cheese" as almost everyone was smiling and joyful to their heart content!!" 

Drumming (Pic: SK Srinivas)

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From: Nandhini Sriraaman 

Where Melody embraced Rhythm

It was an absolutely thrilling children's day celebration at the lake filled with high energy performances and participation from children of all ages.  It was a good turnout with more than 100 people turning up. The performers for the day were Anjana Padmanabhan and Ashirwad accompanied by his son, Arnav. 

As always with a PNLIT programme, it started on time with the first Indian Idol Junior winner,  Anjana Padmanabhan taking the viewers on an amazing Bollywood musical journey that started off with a beautiful melody from Taare zameen par.  The journey traversed through AR Rahman's first song 'Choti si aasha' to 'Nannare' to 'Nagada sang dhol', drawing the kids and adults to shake their legs to these peppy numbers and twisting to 'zoobi doobi'. Anjana also managed to keep the audience engaged with a Sing-along medley of famous Bollywood songs from yesteryears for the young at heart.

Anjana (Pic extracted from Jaishree's video)

Both Anjana and Ashirwad shared their musical journey motivating the participants. Ashirwad then performed on the Djembe while his son played the drums. This was a spontaneous drum jam that kept all the viewers tap their feet to the rhythm.

It was dusk when Anjana started Round 2 of her performances with a few more Bollywood numbers with Bum bum bole from Taare zameen par being the finale. She brought so much energy to the song that kids and elders formed a long train, came down and danced their way back between the audience. There was a lot of joy with everyone displaying the widest smiles they could have and just enjoying the moment.

Train (Pic: extracted from Jaishree's video) 

The whole lake came to life when the most awaited part of the event, the Drum Circle was formed with more that 50 djembes, tambourines and sticks all of them following Ashirwad's instructions playing in the same rhythm. The group was filled with high level of energies keeping up with the beats. The sounds of all the instruments were reverberating and resonating as the sky turned dark. The children couldn't have enough if it. The simple change of pace and variations with so many different activities kept the kids completely engaged and attentive throughout, thanks to Ashirwad. 

Drumming (Pic: SK Srinivas)

Overall, an evening well spent at the lovely Puttenahalli Lake bringing in a lot of life and energy a perfect way to celebrate Children's Day! 

Photos taken by S.K. Srinivas https://photos.app.goo.gl/qkxMeoSueEPWQZdc7

Photos taken by Jaishree Govind https://photos.app.goo.gl/zhb4Db6zDtdHbB9R9

Video taken by Jaishree Govind 

Anjana video 

Arnav and Ashirwad (Drum Jam) video

Report on the Drum Jam for Seniors at Puttenahalli Lake

The Drum jam organised by Silver Talkies at the lake on Saturday, 18th August was more than just a group of senior citizens learning the pleasure of a percussion instrument.  It was also about the spirit and vitality of the young at heart participants.

Mr Ashirwad who led the session, invited Mr Padmanabh Arkalgud to blow the bugle and set the ball rolling. He then gave a short introduction to the djembe, a goblet drum from West Africa. While it can produce a large variety of sounds, he stuck to a few easy ones that everyone as beginners could handle. Rather than each of the 21 seniors introducing themselves, he got them to say it through beats on the djembe. Everybody followed each "name" with gusto if not with accuracy. 

The next round had Mr. Ashirwad's son, Arnav, keeping time on the drums and individuals singing, reciting, even rapping. The octogenarian rapper Mr Arun Bhatia, in fact, stole the show with his snappy lines. With everyone getting lost in the drumming, it was but natural that some, men and women, should take to the floor and let their feet move with the beats. It was a spontaneous, yet graceful garba in the gazebo led by Mrs Harini Dubey, who learned garba in her 40s and won prizes as a dancer. Too soon, unfortunately, the music ended and it was time to wrap up. 

Hats off to Silver Talkies for a special programme. Thanks to this drum jam, we got to meet several distinguished individuals - from a former ambassador of India to China (among other countries); an avid blogger and author who'd just completed a two year project on his alma mater; a theatre person. It was a humbling experience to see them so unassuming, not letting their achievements or age come in their way. They and indeed, every participant, proved at this drum jam that “It does not matter how long you live, but how well you do it.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)

- Usha Rajagopalan

Photos: S.K. Srinivas
More photos can be seen here