Varanasi: Destination North East, the extravaganza showcase event promoting the North-Eastern region, culture, heritage and business opportunities at IIT BHU Technology Ground witnessed scintillating performances of artists and bands on the second day on Sunday.
The main highlights included
§ Machu Taret (Manipur)
§ BorKung Hrangkhwal (Tripura)
§ Awarthanga Chiru (Manipur)
§ Crystal Shai (Mizoram)
Crystal Malsawmi Renthlei – A young spirited Mizo artist who had been doing her round of rendezvous around various parts of India by her charming voice.
§ Shillong Chamber Choir (Meghalaya)
The evening showstopper performance was delivered by the Shillong Chamber Choir which enthralled the audience singing songs like ….Dekhi hai Sari Duniya
Made in India by Crystal, Kaisi paheli hai zindgaani by Crystal.
The Shillong Chamber Choir, founded in 2001 is a multi-genre choir which won the reality TV show India’s Got Talent in 2010. The same year also saw the choir being awarded three gold awards at the 6th World Choir Games for Musica Sacra, Gospel and Popular Music. They have also performed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for visiting US President Barak Obama and Michelle Obama during their state visit to India.
The choir’s versatility ranges from performances with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Fitz William Quartet to collaborations with known icons like Amitabh Bachchan for the opening of Kaun Banega Crorepati season 6. The show is said to have had the highest opening in 2012 across all shows on all general entertainment channels, breaking all previous records.
The highlight of yesterday’s performance was the world’s only All-Blind band Light After Dark comprising of four visually impaired boys from Meghalaya, whose performance was just fabulous, amazing and inspirational. Their renditions were sometimes even better than many bands performing live on stage. Their limitations were forgotten as their music takes over.
The band members consists of Dilbertstar Lyngdoh (19) playing the bass guitar, Hilter Khongpai (21) from Pynursla plays the drums, Remiki Pajuh (23) from Jaintia Hills plays the guitar with pride and Wanlamphrang Nongklhaw (25) from Shillong used to be a drummer but with latent talent for singing he took on the main vocalist in the band.
