Musically Inclined

‘Swar’ and ‘anand’ come together to simply mean the divine pleasure of music. City-based NGO Swaranand’s objective is to make sure that all amateur musicians get a chance to express and spread the happiness that can be attained from music. Swaranand hosted their second annual musical competition,Nave Shabd–Nave Sur,on Sunday,June 10. “In most competitions that we see on reality television nowadays,the contestants perform pieces that have already been sung or composed by the greats. There is no new music created out there. So instead,we decided that teams will participate in our competition,and each of them will have a poet/lyricist,composer and singer or singers in them,” said the executive trustee,Prakash Bhonde. “There is just one strict rule – we do not want any professionals who have done work in the field to participate in this competition. It is for people who need a place and chance to showcase their talent,” he added. One of their most memorable shows was held in December 1975,at the programme ‘Mantarlelya Chaitraban’,which has been conceived by Sudhir Moghe. It featured film songs composed by Ga Di Madgulkar,and stalwarts like Raja Paranjpe and Sudhir Phadke were present.

Before playing host to Nave Shabd–Nave Sur,the 42-year-old NGO would perform shows in which they would promote budding artists. “Currently we perform about 200 shows per year. In the beginning the number was smaller,but as Swaranand started to gain popularity,the number increased. In total,since the NGO was formed,we must have performed at least 3,000 shows,” said Bhonde

Even though Nave Shabd–Nave Sur is just two-years-old,it has already started to elicit great response from aspiring musicians. “We received 34 entries from very talented teams,but the trust did the first round of elimination and settled for 14 entries for the show on Sunday. When we had asked people to register,they were supposed to send us a CD of the team’s work. This time the teams taking part were very good,” said Bhonde. The event was presided over by prestigious judges like Anand Modak,Himanshu Kulkarni,Aparna Sant and Promod Ranade. Besides the first,second and third place in the competition,Swaranand also gave out personal awards to the best poet,best composer and best singer male and female.

According to Bhonde,besides promoting new talent,this NGO also appreciates professional artists who contribute towards the field of music. Swaranand gives out four awards each year for achievements in poetry,composition and singing. “Promoting young and original talent has always been one of our main aims.”