The first fundraising event of 2005 to benefit Asha for Education- an action group for basic education in India, was held on January 15th at the Georgia Tech Student Center Theatre. Sanghamitra Chakrabarti, foremost student of acclaimed singer Rajeshwar Bhattacharya, enthralled Atlantans with the songs of India’s legendary poet and Nobel Laureate - Rabindranath Tagore.

The host for the evening, Sunit Mukerjee of Asha-Atlanta, welcomed the audience in Bengali as well as English, and introduced the artists. Sanghamitra began the evening with “Modhuro Modhuro Dhwani Baje” which was followed by very melodious and rhythmic songs like “Amar HiyarMajhe Lukiye Chile" and "Tomar Khola Haoa Lagiye Palee”. Just before the break, the audience was moved by the impressive rendition of “Bondhu Roho Roho Sathe”, sung without any musical instruments. The second half included “Porobashi Chole Esho Ghore”- a call to all Indians staying abroad to return to their motherland, and more Tagore songs such as “Chokher Aloi Dekhechilem” and “Jadi Tare Nai Chini Go Seki”. Sanghamitra ended the evening with the classy “Amar Praner Pore”. It was good to see that the meaning and depth of certain songs was explained in Bengali as well as English for the benefit of the many non-Bengali’s, both Indian as well as non-Indian, present at the concert.

Chakrabarti was accompanied by Amitava Sen on Violin, Tirthankar Dasgupta on Tabla and Shah Alam Khokan on Keyboard. A special mention must be made to the wonderful Tabla accompaniment by Tirthankar Dasgupta, particularly evident on songs such as “Tomar Surer Dhara” and “Jadi Tor Dak Sune Keu Na Ashe”, and to the excellent violin handling by Amitava Sen. The quality on keyboard, however, was noticeably lacking.

The concert began on time at 7:00pm and lasted for over 2 hours. More than 100 people attended the concert and over $1100 were raised. During the break, Gaurav Bakshi gave an in-depth presentation on Asha for Education and the grassroots level work that the organization was doing in India and thanked the audience, the volunteers and the artists for contributing towards the cause. All proceeds will benefit Asha projects for the underprivileged in India.

Asha is a non-profit organization, with more than 51 chapters in the US, and works closely with NGOs and other support groups in India to catalyze socioeconomic change primarily through the medium of education. The organization is committed to empowering underprivileged women and children in India by enabling them to access education, health care, social justice, and equal opportunity in their daily lives. All contributions to Asha are tax-deductible. All donations are sent to project partners in India.