Kathmandu:

“What is the difference between singing bhajans and Bollywood songs?”

“You tell me, how did you feel listening to the songs today?”

“It was relaxing.”

And she gives a slight nod to as if to say: “Same here”.

The above conversation took place between a few media persons and celebrated Indian singer Anuradha Poudwal just after she completed her second round of singing at the Pashupati area on February 23. Hundreds of people, including some noted names in Nepali music fraternity, had attended the programme, the second series of Bhakti Sangeet Utsav.

“It feels very nice to be here,” she shared. Poudwal had first come to Nepal in 1988 and later also in 1995. “I didn’t feel as if I was not understood due to my language. I do want to come again,” she added in a relaxed manner.

The devotional music concert was inaugurated by Education and Sports Minister Pradip Nepal and Indian Ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee. After felicitation of the performing artistes, the concert began with Shambha Sada Shiva, sung by Poudwal and Nupur Bhattacharya, a renowned Nepali classical singer. Then Poudwal charmed the audience with a two-hour dose of devotional music in her flawless voice.

After Poudwal, it was the turn of Nepali singing maestro Batuk Raj Mishra to infuse more spirituality into the air with songs like Aja Mero Gai Herne Palo and Mero Krishna. Bhattacharya followed him, also to hold a tight grip on the audience through her mesmerising Ke Lagyo and Aba Darshan. When she was singing Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite Vaisnav Janake, even Poudwal was seen softly singing along at the back of the stage.

After a 45 minutes performance by Bhattacharya, the stage was set for yet another performance by Poudwal, wherein she sang numbers like Ek Radha Ek Meera, Satyam Shivam Sundaram and Namas Shivaye. As she said, “We don’t get many opportunities to sing the kind of songs I have sung today. They need proper listeners,” a round of applause entailed from the happy audience.

Poudwal ended her concert in style by singing a line from the popular Hindi song Nazar ke samne jigar ke paas, but this time gave it a different perspective dedicating it to the audience.

Droves of people struggled to meet her, take autographs, capture themselves in a snap with her, while many struggled only to see her.

The event ended with a performance by International Society for Krishna Consciousness team.

A noted young tabla player who also played in the concert for Nepali artistes, Pramod Upadhyay, shared, “It was also a good occasion for young people like us to showcase our talent.”

The concert was jointly organised by the Indian Embassy, Indian Cultural Centre and BP Koirala Nepal-India Foundation. It was managed by Kaal Bhairav Event and Management Pvt Ltd with The Himalayan Times as the official print media. The programme was also shown live on Image Channel and aired live on FM Adhyatma Jyoti.