India Evening with Penaz Masani

Penaz Masani and her troupe perform at the Institute of Engineers, Chittagong, during her recent tour of Bangladesh

Shubho Shandhya--with this greeting, Penaz Masani, the lady with a golden voice, began the musical soiree. Her first ghazal was Dil ki ainey mein yaadon ki chamak baki hai. This beautiful couplet was dedicated to the hospitable Bangladeshi people. Some of the beautiful couplets, like Dekha hai tujhe to jaag uthi, Aau huzur tumko sitaron main le chalu, Ranjishey sahi dil ko, Meri zindaagi hai, Aj jane ki zid na karo were rendered at the occasion. She carried her audience through a varied repertoire of ghazals, traditional and modern, at the first part of the programme. She also performed one of RD Burman's Bangla songs and a famous folk tune, Shadher lau, which the audience greatly appreciated.

Then started the second part of the evening with a fusion dance composition by Planet. Penaz came to the stage with the dance troupe to present some faster pace music like old and new Hindi filmi songs, Babuji dhirey chalna, Ek ladki hai bhigisi, Pyaar hua ekrar hua, Ramaya mastavaiya, Yeh raat bhigi bhigi, Shola jo bharke were some of the well appreciated songs of the legends like Rafi and Kishore Kumar. New filmi songs like Koi kahe kehta rahey, Rabba meri rabba and even an English hit of Jennifer Lopez's Waiting for tonight, synchronized with dances, were mesmerising and enthralled the young crowd who were not very familiar with ghazals.

Penaz was like a fresh infusion of culture, a renewed link with the cultural heritage of India. Though her ghazal session drew a lukewarm response from the audience, in her words, 'The goal will be the next song I will sing. Nothing else matters.'