They were a regular audience of a music concert; only, each one of them felt like the best singer in town when it was time to leave.
Sometimes made to sing after and, at other times, singing along the classic tunes of the legendary duo of fused Indian and western genres, Hariharan and Leslie Lewis, they were ecstatic audiences of the ‘Colonial Cousins', who performed here on Sunday.
Jam-packed auditorium
While the Indian classical magic of Hariharan left the crowd of a jam-packed auditorium asking for a rewind of almost every song of the three-hour concert; the other cousin, Lezz, unfailing swept the audience off its feet with his Western renditions.
Still in vogue
The quintessential ‘Krishna ne begane', ‘Parulanu Vedanu' and ‘Sa ni dha pa', which had brought out the seamless fusion of Eastern and Western well over a decade ago, did not seem to lose even a tad bit of its sheen.
If only, it had the felt like old wine to a music-loving audience.
‘Sparsh'
The concert was held in aid ‘Sparsh', a cancer hospice providing free palliative care to patients in the city.
Speaking at the occasion, Dr. M. Subramaniyam, president, Sparsh hospice said,
“Expecting that the government will support the end of life is a far dream in a country where government hospitals are unfit to cater even to the sick, who can be treated and cured.”
“While any private hospital will not venture into the palliative care as it not profitable, it is upon NGOs and individuals to help make death less painful for terminally ill cancer patients,” he said, explaining the motive behind Sparsh.
And the live music concert with all numbers of the band that once hit the platinum sales in India, came was worth more than its while for an audience whose attendance was also to support the cause.
Perfect end
The much-awaited ‘Tu He Ri' from Hariharan and the astounding ‘Yaroon Dosti' by Leslie Lewis brought the melodious evening to its perfect end.