With songs from the Pink Floyd oeuvre to classical Hindustani ragas, a fund-raising concert organised for the victims of the recent Nepal earthquake on Saturday night turned out to be an inspiring show of solidarity.
More than 220 people, from the young to the old, filled the gardens of the Maison Colombani, Alliance Francaise, on Saturday evening, and pooled in around Rs. 62,000 in a symbolic gesture of support to those in crisis.
The Alliance Francaise’s concert proved to be not just a crowd-puller, but a platform for the diverse talents of people from Puducherry and around.
There were also a couple of pleasant surprises, as Olivier Litvine, Director, Alliance Francaise, showed his skills with the guitar. Wowing the audience further was French Consul General Philippe Janvier-Kamiyama who rendered soulful tunes on the Scottish Bagpipe.
The talented line-up of musicians included Monique Fatna, Daniel Fatna, Aneesh Raghavan, Magnetic fields, the Mysterious Tourists, the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music and Indianostrum.
There was also a special fusion piece with Soham Munim on the sitar, Suresh on drums, Ed DeGenaro on guitar, Patnaik on tabla and vocals by Ujjayinee Roy.
“When Lalit Verma of Alliance Francaise contacted me about this concert, Ed and I were happy to be on board for this good cause. There is an urgent need for money to support relief work,” said Ms. Roy.
The funds raised through the tickets will be sent to Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World), an international organisation which provides medical care to vulnerable people. The organisation has already been working in Nepal for long, and has sent around 20 tonnes of medical supplies, natural disaster kits and hygiene products.
Olivier Litvine, Director, Alliance Francaise, read out a statement from Thierry Brigaud, president, Médecins du Monde, which thanked the Alliance Francaise’s support, and said the ‘goal is to overcome the physical destruction and to participate in first aid in healing the many wounded, stricken by the quake’, and to ensure rebuilding of basic health care for everyone.
Fund-raising to continue
The Alliance Francaise will be continuing to collect funds till May 8, Friday, said Mr. Litvine. “It has been a great response with a good turnout. The musicians were generous and were only happy to perform at this concert,” he said.