Aman ki Asha at PURANA QILA

MITWAS AT PURANA QILA - Arpita Nath

The Purana Qila, lit by soft purple and saffron lights, made for a beautiful venue for the Aman Ki Asha concert – a joint initiative by The Times of India and the Jang Group of Pakistan – which saw even the Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit sit through the performances. Hours ahead of the concert, people had queued up at the venue to hear Bollywood singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan and Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali perform.Aamir Raza Husain,eminent theatre personality, welcomed the people for a “quest to find the Holy Grail that will end the hatred” between the two nations. “We cannot deny that problems exist, but we should not stop prosperity and growth in the fields of culture and commerce,” said Raza, adding, “Dehshatgardi ke liye nahin yeh zameen humari, aur nafrat ke liye hum taiyaar nahin… hum mohabbat hain, hum mohabbat le kar aayenge.” And this set the mood for the evening as Mahadevan took to the stage to a thunderous applause by music lovers, who started requesting for songs the moment the singer took the mike.
Said Shankar, visibly surprised by the reception from the crowd, “Such cheerful fans – they sound so much better!” as he started off with the Aman Ki Asha theme song “Nazar Mein Rehte Ho”. Next came in the title track from the movie “Lakshya” which got everyone singing along “Lakshya Toh Har Haal Mein Paana Hai”, followed by songs from “Dil Chahta Hai” – “the most flop movie with which we started out,” joked Shankar. The singer got the audience to do sing along with him and said, “The Delhi audience gets a 10 on 10 in this test!”
Talking about the initiative for peace, Shankar stressed the fact that “Music is a powerful medium, it doesn’t have a language or religion. This is music for peace.”
The event, which was held at this historic venue thanks to the Archaeological Survey of India, saw a tremendous reception, and the people who could not be accommodated inside the demarcated area, were seen standing on either sides of the barricades, with some even scrambling up and perching themselves on the walls of an adjacent structure for a better view.
Shafqat took to the stage next, and keeping with the theme of the concert – of friendship and harmony – Shankar and Shafqat sang a duet, “Mitwa”. Said Shafqat, “Hum aise hi hope ke saath aate hain, for all the people of the world, to bring everyone together.” And as the audience sat in anticipation, wondering what to expect from the singer, he joked, “Agar aap itna khamosh baithe rahenge, toh mujhe tension ho jayegi!” He went on to sing “Bhula Na Paye” which had a soulful and romantic guitar solo in the middle, followed by a fusion of rock elements like heavy drumming, electric guitar, and classical elements like the flute. The romantic tunes followed throughout the rest of the evening, as Shafqat crooned audience’s requests like “Aankhon Ke Sagar” and “Khamaj” and rounded up with “Damadam Mast Kalandar” which saw many from the crowd get up and dance, bringing the beautiful winter evening to a closure.