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For a cause

Some children from the National Association for the Blind will give their debut performance with the young concert pianist Utsav Lal this Saturday at the FICCI Auditorium

Music knows no boundaries, they say. It transcends all barriers of age, class, country and cause. And the saying repeats itself this Saturday as some senior citizens from The National Association for the Blind - NAB - have come up with the concept of an old age home for the blind. The home is likely to come up at Dwarka. The land was sold by the Delhi Development Authority "on a very concessional rate" as O.P Makhija, Manager, NAB puts it. To raise funds for the home NAB is organising a musical evening at FICCI Auditorium this Saturday at 6.45 p.m.

The evening titled `Darkness to Light' will see Utsav Lal, the youngest certified concert pianist in India, performing with young visually challenged students from NAB. Notably, the students are as young as nine to 16 years old. While Utsav will play some old favourites the students will sing along. Says Utsav, "We may start the programme with `Aa Chal Ke Tujhe Main Le Ke Chalun' with 11 students. Nine-year-old Sonali will sing `Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar'."

Old numbers

The evening will be a nostalgic one as it will remind many of the good old songs we hear only through old CDs now. Utsav is also likely to play "Aa Bhi Ja" from the film Sur, as its maker Lucky Ali is expected to attend the evening, apart from veteran actress Sushma Seth. For this programme the children had around five practice sessions with Utsav. Says the overwhelmed 13-year-old pianist, "They are naturally talented and no one can say they are performing for the first time. They are very quick learners."

The programme, as Makhija puts it, is designed for corporate sensitisation to contribute to social causes. A beginning has already been made by GE, Canon India, Hero Honda and Xerox.

"We already have an old age home for the blind at Narela but it is very small. Ten people reside there. In the new four-storey building we would be able to accommodate a larger number of people. We would have television, radio and musical instruments, etc., for them to spend time. We won't force any vocational training on them," says Makhija.

Passes for the programme can be procured from FICCI and the NAB office at Sector 5, R.K Puram, New Delhi.

RANA SIDDIQUI

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