The rainy Saturday morning of 10th December, 2022 brought so much cheer and joy to those present at the Dialogues Cafe, JP Nagar 6th Phase, thanks to the 9 performers of the first Mitra Open Mic event organised by Mitra Academy for Performing Arts, a unit of Mitra for Life.
The Open Mic event is one of the key focus areas of the Mitra Academy to provide a platform and an opportunity to our budding talented youngsters with special needs to showcase their abilities without any inhibitions or judgement in an informal setting. They come purely for the joy of performing in front of a limited audience and get a memorable ‘stage’ experience in the process. The event was inclusive where all sections of the community came together to appreciate the different talents.
9-year-old Kushal Suresh, the youngest of the lot opened the performance with a Kannada folk (Janapada) song about 'The Tree', followed by a karoeke of the very popular 'Jab koi baat bigad jaaye' without missing a beat or sur.
Kaarthik N regaled us with perfect renditions of 'Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisar' and 'Pehla Nasha' on the keyboard.
Niketha who is now learning Carnatic music under Vidushi Dr. Meenakshi Ravi presented a Devarnama on Lord Ganesha followed by a Janapada geethe 'Udru udru Mallige' and also a Bhavageethe 'Paataragitthi pakka'. Mrs. Sandhya Rajan, a senior member of Mitra for Life
handed over a Certificate of Appreciation to all the participants.
Sanchit is a gifted Carnatic singer who has learnt from the Shankar Mahadevan Academy and Dr. Meenakshi Ravi. He rendered two beautiful krithis 'Mahadeva Shiva Shambho' and 'Venkatachala Nilayam'. He also has a talent in mimicry and he regaled the audience with different animal and vehicle sounds.
The Mitra Open Mic is proud to be the first ever stage for 9-year-old Raghavendra. Although he is interested in music and often hums along with his elder sister, he is extremely shy to perform in public and felt extremely nervous. But this opportunity definitely broke the ice and we are sure Raaghu will regale us with more performances in future.
Vidhi Peswani gave us a unique experience of hearing the traditional Harmonium. The ease with which she played the notes amazed us. She also sang along the beautiful songs she played, 'Ek pyar ka nagma hain' (Film: Shor) and 'Kahin door jab din dhal jaye' (Film: Anand)
Nandhini, who is learning Carnatic music for the last 5 years presented a lovely 'Thiruppavai' which she also explained beautifully to the audience as a set of tamil hymns usually sung in the month of Margazhi in praise of Lord Vishnu. She followed this with a melodious film song by K S Chitra.
Gagana, who loves to shake a leg to bollywood music gave an energetic performance for two popular bollywood hits which made the audience groove to her moves as well. She self-choreographs all her dance moves and it was a joy to watch.
Kaarthik and Sanchit receiving their certificates
A big applause for our lovely audience for coming and supporting our performers
Performers with the Mitra for Life team
Mitra for Life thanks the venue 'Dialogues Cafe' for the lovely space. It was a Saturday morning well spent! We look forward to the next edition of the Mitra Open mic.
Would you like your child to be featured in the next Open mic?
Please share a talent video of your child to 9740093408 if you have not already done so to not miss this great opportunity and platform.