BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE
Artists from India, Ganesh Desai and Namita Desai supported by local artists enthralled the Kannada community of Atlanta with their music and dance performances organized by Nrupatunga Kannada Koota (NKK) this September 12th at the Hindu Temple of Atlanta. Riverdale.
Namita Desai, an active participant in many dance features presented both on stage and television danced to five different devotional songs. A beautiful artist, her expressions truly justified the song sequences. Namita has traveled widely across India and delivered both solo and group performances along with choreographing many dance dramas. She has also acted in some Kannada television series such as “Maneyondu Mooru baagilu” (ETV), “Kallu Sakkare” (Kasturi) among many others.
The performance of Ganesh Desai was a musical delight to the crowd. Local artists Anjaneya Shastri (Tabla), Trishul Mallikarjuna (Rhytam pad), Shreyas Srinath (Tabla) accompanied the music with ease and élan. The show stealer was renderence of the song “Vittala” which was an amalgamation of various different “swaras” or notes had the audience spellbound and craving for more. A true entertainer with a sense of humor, Ganesh also crooned to some of the song requests from the crowd. Ganesh is a classical and light vocalist, music director, tabla and harmonium player. He has directed music for dance ballets, documentary films, TV serials, dance dramas, albums, skits and mimes. Ganesh Desai has won the Hero Honda “Suurtaranga” Award for Best Young Artists 2003, “Aryabhata” Kalakusuma Cultural Award for Sugama Sangeeta, Bangalore-2000 for his performances.
Kudos to Nrupatunga Kannada Koota for providing a platform to both local as well as Indian artists to showcase their talent. Food was also organized by NKK after the event. The evening was a memorable experience for everyone present and sent everyone home with a smile or perhaps some nostalgic memories of the singers of yesteryears as someone in the crowd was heard recounting.
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