CHICAGO: Hindi Lovers Club of Illinois (HLC) hosted a musical concert featuring renowned Indian singer Rekha Surya on Sunday, April 6 at Ashyana Banquets at its very beautiful ambience in Downers Grove, a south side suburb of Chicago.
Rekha Surya is one of the few practitioners of the Lucknow Gharana of North Indian music and she has preserved the legacy of her legendary guru Begum Akhtar by propagating this art at prestigious concert and lecture venues in India and abroad. The infusion of spirituality into an essentially romantic genre is a unique part of her repertoire.
The event was very well-attended by audiences that truly enjoyed the musical evening.
The program started with beautiful classic Bollywood melodies sung by local Chicago artist, Srinivas while people found their comfortable seats for the evening. The show officially opened with some welcoming words by Vandana Jhingan, an Advisory Board member of the Club. Padmini Rao and Raju Bunkapur, highly talented artists from Chicago, were called upon the stage and they did a great job at mesmerizing the audiences with their amazing choice of old melodious songs.
Vinita Gulabani, President of the Club greeted the guests and sponsors with beautiful couplets. She welcomed Gurbachan Kaur Neelam, Chairman & Founder of Hindi Lovers Club. Nand and Sudaksha Kapoor were also honored as senior members of the organization. Rohit Acharya had the honor of reciting a prayer for peace with the attendees of the event.
Vinita invited and introduced all the Guests of Honor on stage and kept the audience amused with her shayari. She thanked them and the board of Hindi Lovers Club for their support and contributions.
Rekhaji sang in her deep and beautiful voice for two hours accompanied by Kamlesh Desai on Keyboard and Tabla master Mumtaj Ali and DJ Nilesh, giving the audience a time to remember. She sang Ghazals and Thumri in the traditional style of Lucknow Gharana and Sufi poetry in her light classical style. Her voice took the audience an era back and she captivated the hearts right from her opening act of a thumri style song on Holi. She presently lives in New Delhi, India.
The event also featured watering snacks and refreshments to stomach filling dinner delicacies. It was a complete evening of culture and traditions filled with great people.
Surendra Ullal
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