It was difficult to tell which was more soothing — the cool breeze from the sea or the beauty of the ghazal, Woh jo hum mein tum mein qaraar tha ...
It was written by Urdu poet Momin Khan Momin who lived in the first half of the 19th century. Among his admirers was the legendary Mirza Ghalib, who was particularly fond of this ghazal.
On Thursday night, Abhradita Banerjee rendered it for a rapt audience at the Bhatt Road Beach on the fourth day of the ghazal festival organised by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi and the District Tourism Promotion Council. And she sang it rather well, too.
This Thiruvananthapuram-settled singer from West Bengal may not be among the busiest performers in Kerala, but she is fairly well known because of her appearances in music shows on television. She certainly deserves to be heard more often.
She is more inclined towards classical style of singing. Another thing that stood out was her selection of songs, which was terrific.
Farida Khanum’s Aaj jaane ki zid na karo. .. is among the most popular ghazals of all time. She got the loudest applause for it on Thursday night.
The other highlights of her show included Dil mein ek lehar se uthi ..., Deewana banaana to banana de ... and Raaz r ulfat chchupa ke . It truly was a night to remember for the crowd.