On the eve of Copenhagen Summit on Climate, the US based You Tube hit singer Terra Naomi joined Kashmir's famous voice Waheed Jeelani in making a fervent call to save environment. Both of them enthralled a packed audience with “Say It's Possible”.
Naomi who arrived here two days back visited famous tourist spot Gulmarg on Sunday. From the snow capped mountains in Gulmarg she called upon world leaders to take into consideration the changing climate in Kashmir. Amidst thunderous applaud Terra performed in Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) here and became the first western singer to play a concert in Srinagar. Organised by Mercy Corps, an International NGO, the programme attracted hundreds of people including youth who were spell bound for an hour scintillating performance. They realized the need for protection of environment which was getting affected with rest of the world.
“This (Kashmir) is one of the beautiful places I have seen in the world and I want that people from all over Globe come here. This is the place where climate change effects could be felt. So get together to defeat that change” she said. Ms. Naomi is an ardent supporter of climate change and has portrayed the same in her previous albums and songs. “My objective is to raise awareness about climate change through musical programme” said Naomi, whose “Say It's Possible” has the distinction of having nearly 40 lakh hits on the You Tube. She also won the You Tube Music Award and her song is inspired by Al Gore's Oscar winning documentary “The Inconvenient Truth”.
With Kashmir's Waheed Jeelani, a household name in music, she further cemented the effort and surprised the audience by singing a few lines in Kashmir. Waheed and his team presented the Kashmiri version of “Sat It's Possible” penned by prominent poet Shehnaz Rashid. “We will win the battle” was the punch of the song which left an impression on the minds of the people. The programme was witnessed by State Ministers Nawang Rigzin Jora, Nasir Aslam Wani besides JKLF chief Yasin Malik. “It was a great programme” said Nasir Hamid a student.
Impressed with the place and the people Naomi, who plays guitar and piano, promised that once she is back in US she will write a song for Kashmir. “I was told that Gulmarg used to receive more than 10 ft of snow during this time of the year many years back. At present I find it is not the case,” she said.
Usman Rahim Ahmad, Regional Director of Mercy Corps, an NGO which has brought Naomi to Kashmir, said it was a great performance which created waves among the audience. “This will help a great deal in building understanding among masses about the climate change” he said. A documentary on climate by Educational Multi Media Research Centre of Kashmir University was also screened during the programme.
