GEETHA PATIL
SHREWSBURY, Massachusetts: The New England Desi Karaoke Club hosted a karaoke concert, titled “Mehfil-e-Ghazal: Remembering Ghazal King Late Jagjit Singh”, September 21 at Robert R. Jay Performing Arts Center, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Hundreds of enthusiastic music lovers in their colorful traditional attires attended the three-hour program.
Professionally pieced together by Ashish Gite and Varsha Gite, this concert was turned into a mesmerizing one due to the hard work of the singers who have a wide following in the New England area. The event started with a melodious spiritual song beautifully sung by Varsha Gite.
Ashish Gite took the crowd on an unforgettable ride singing very popular ghazals of Jagjit Singh like “Tumko dekha to ye khayaal aayaa”, “Hoshwalon ko Khabar kya”, “Jhuki jhuki si nazar”, “Honthon se chulo tum”, “Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho”, “Kal choudhvi ki raat thi”, and “Hazaron khwahishein aisi”.
Varsha Gite and Sunita Adaval sang some duets along with Ashish.
Ashish took time in between the songs to explain the context for many of the songs and churned out some amusing anecdotes. Enthralled members of the audience showed their appreciation by whistles and shouts encores. Emcee Pankaj Adaval livened up the stage by reciting shayari.
In the end, Pankaj Adval thanked those present for their immense enthusiasm and support, Bhavisha Patel from Shivay Events Decorations for stage set-up and Raj Tulsani for stage lights. He also thanked Swaranjali group members, and Nathan Colby, the theatre coordinator from St. John School.