News Stardom : 14th. July, 2020. In a unique initiative Kalakar Arts U.K has started a monthly online session from Sunday, 12th July named ‘The Godsends’. These sessions will present an individual who, despite having gone through a ton of difficulties due to their disabilities, have made their own name in the field of Indian music. The first session introduced a 22 year old Chef from South Africa, Rounak Paul. Rounak was born with Down Syndrome irregardless of which he has bagged the achievement of receiving a professional qualification as a Chef and adding to this, he is known to be an excellent pianist. The next session in August will present Arup Biswas, a well known Cello player, who was raised at the Oxford Mission orphanage, Behala in Kolkata. Anup has made a big name in the Cello industry that everyone knows but not many are aware that he is also the founder of an orphanage in Kolkata namely, ‘Father Mathusion Trust’ where he looks after 150 orphans, teaches them music and supports their dreams of being someone in life. The session in September will introduce us to Baluji Srivastava, who is based in London and has been blind since birth.
Baluji is a magnificent Sitar player and had recently received the prestigious OBE from the Queen of England for his immense contribution to music. Baluji also runs a charitable organization for the blind called ‘Inner Vision’. The first session that was held on 12th July, attracted over 2000 organic views and is still growing. Kalakar’s other music sessions had attracted over 1 lakh 70 thousand views approximately. Kalakar Arts U.K is London based critically acclaimed group of extremely talented and creative artists. No better way to describe a group of artists than its Hindi synonym, a language that prides over its creativity and its rich background. Kalakar Arts U.K has recently recognized itself as one of the top promoters of art and music as a whole. In the Indian culture, Kalakar is given a high stature because other than our rich history, we pride ourselves on the moulding of our artists and the way they have shaped our environment, whether it be in the field of art or music. The Kalakar Arts U.K promotes classical and semi- classical music, produces extraordinary musicals based on a famous musician’s lives and offers an eminent platform to upcoming young talented musicians. It is a very prestigious organization that has been conducting online sessions with stalwarts of Indian music since April this year, to celebrate the Pt. A. Kanan centenary. The founder and CEO of Kalakar, Smt. Chandra Chakraborty, is a foremost disciple of Guru Pt. A. Kanan and Smt. Malabika Kanan. So far, since 11th April, several artists of a reputable nature have taken part in celebrating the centenary such as Ustad Rashid Khan, Ustad Shujaat Khan, Pt. Tanmoy Bose, Pt, Subhankar Banerjee, Anup Jalota, Subhamita, dr. Radhika Chopra and many other eminent artists. Since 18th June, Kalakar has been promoting young maestros on weekly Facebook live interactive sessions. A number of young musicians have been facing tremendous difficulties during lockdown due to lack of work and have been feeling their insecurities getting a tighter hold on them. To support them and provide them with a moral boost, the CEO of Kalakar, Smt. Chandra Chakraborty, has been inviting these young talents from all over the world and also paying them a fee for their participation. As a pioneer of art, Smt. Chandra Chakraborty is paying through her own money thus, contributing to the betterment of these young musicians.
Apart from these weekly online sessions, Kalakar is organizing regular online workshops where interested students will have the opportunity to learn from maestros such as Pt. Sanju Sahai, Pt. Subhankar Banerjee (Tabla), Guru Sandeep Mallik (Kathak), Vidushu Subhra Guha (Vocal), at a nominal cost.
Each session is said to raise a certain amount of funds that will go to the charity of the guest’s choosing. After undertaking this special and thoughtful initiative, Kalakar has received over 1000 messages from artists who, although have already taken part in other sessions, are also eager to be a part of ‘The Godsends’ project. The viewers have also expressed their gratitude and awe towards this initiative as a part of the aforementioned messages. These stories endeavor to inspire the viewers and thus, by bringing these inspirational stories forward, Kalakar has tried to soften these difficult times enveloping us.
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