Musical evening organized by PNLIT and Sargam on March 11th at Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar - Event Report

A musical afternoon was held yesterday, on 11 March 2023, at the Puttenahalli Lake organized by SARGAM, a group of singing enthusiasts from South City together with the PNLIT. The program held at the Gazebo was a live singing of mostly film songs to Karaoke tracks on the theme of Water bodies and Birds.

With Bala from South City setting the mood and tone with a flute recital, the vocalists followed, enthralling the discerning and appreciative audience which grew bigger as the evening progressed. The 31 singers presented solos and duets in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and English. Considering that all were amateurs, there were many young people who sang really well but the seniors were not outdone either. 

As much as the singers were good and kept the audience interested, the ambience made it all even more magical. The atmosphere was friendly and informal and with the beautiful Puttenahalli Lake in the background it was a very enjoyable afternoon. There was a gentle cool breeze blowing across from the West to East right across the lake which made for a very comfortable afternoon indeed. Any apprehension one might have had about sitting out in the open - the mercury is definitely climbing in Bangalore as it would in mid March - was quickly dispelled with the zephyr that very kindly decided to grace the event. SARGAM members and the singers from the neighbouring Brigade Millennium, Adarsh Rhythm and Brigade Palm Spring apartments made the most of the occasion. 

Addressing the gathering, PNLIT chairperson Ms. Usha Rajagopalan spoke about how the lake came to be revived and how it had grown with support from the community and assistance from BBMP. In order to hold public events, PNLIT had had the Gazebo modified slightly to open it up as a stage, she said. She  welcomed the idea of using the premises for such community events and urged the gathering to strengthen PNLIT's efforts with nurturing the lake. 

On the whole the event turned out to be a very pleasant and enjoyable afternoon for the audience and participants alike. Thanks to PNLIT the lake is now a community asset that provides a home for a variety of flora and fauna along with being a lovely clean lung space for morning walkers and a great venue for community events.

By
V.Srinivasan
Mr V.Srinivasan is a resident of South City and also a member of SARGAM.

Here are some beautiful moments of the event captured by our lake photographer Mr. SK Srinivas -  https://photos.app.goo.gl/R5wd8fiK1zyn9nis9

Picture credits - Ramu ,our lake gardener

Event Report of the musical evening organized by PNLIT and South City Karaoke Club March-2022

After a two-year long hiatus, our Puttakere came alive with music. We resumed our activities at the lake with a tribute to the legendary Lata Mangeshkar. This event held on yesterday (13th March) had singers from the neighbourhood of Puttenahalli Lake such as South City, Brigade Millennium and V S Cozy Apartments, 24th Main coming together to give a memorable performance.

The event which began with the prayer 'Ae Malik Tere Bande Hum' had the audience humming along with the talented artists who presented Lataji’s evergreen songs in Hindi of course but also in Bengali and Tamil. Rendering in flute by Mr. Bala and Mr. Raghavendra Shanbhag’s whistling added depth and enriched the programme.

While Jayashree Govind and Srinivasan Venkataraman (‘Sawan ka mahina’) transported the audience to the classic Nutan and Sunil Dutt starrer, Preeti Kadni and Harsha Anand sang the melodious ‘Kora kagaz tha ye man mera.’ Jayashree Govind’s narration of how Kamal Hasan got Lata Mangeshkar – SPB’s duet song in his Tamil film made the presentation of 'Valai osai kalakala' by Siva Columbus and Priya Ramakrishnan even more interesting. These duets had South City singers teaming up with co-artists from Brigade Millennium.

‘Sagar kinare’ sung by Renu Sadasivan and S. Vijay and Priya Ramakrishnan’s Bengali song ‘Ja re ud ja re panchhi’ seemed particularly suited to the ambience of the venue with Puttenahalli Lake looking fresh and clean with birds in the water and overhead, the leaves of the trees fluttering in the breeze.  

Roli Saraswat introduced the singers with interesting trivia about the composition and sang the classic 'Yeh zindagi usiki hai' beautifully. One of the highlights of the event was a medley of Lata Mangeshkar songs from 1949-2009. A fine selection, well sung by six lady members of the South City Karaoke Club. The finale number 'Ae mere watan ke logo' was not just a truly fitting tribute to the Nightingale of India but a reminder to us all of how much we owe to those brave souls protecting our country and us, the people.

In her brief talk, Usha Rajagopalan from PNLIT thanked the BBMP and BWSSB for rescuing the lake from sewage influx and bringing it to this pristine state. This was made possible by the constant follow-up of the trustees with the government departments. She called upon the 100 odd residents who had come for the event to extend their support to the lake as well. Sapana Rawat welcomed the artists and the audience.

Here are some moments from the event taken by various residents.

(Report inputs provided by Usha Rajagopalan and Vijaya Balasubramanian)

-Sapana, PNLIT Events Coordinator