Monday 6 October 2014

a different outing!

A few days back, a dear friend- Karishma, asked me why I wasn't coming to the Pritam Concert (her firm was bringing the concert to Singapore). For those who don't know Pritam, he is one of the better known music composers in Bollywood (India's largest film industry) and has rendered some of the best music in the last 4-5 years.

And to come back to my dilemma, I had a flux of questions in my mind- a weekend eve, leave the kids and go (do I really need to), too much to co-ordinate? And then I thought, maybe I should just take Zoya (my 7-year old)..

Pritam performing live in Singapore
For those who don't know, Zoya is a mini-Bollywood fan in our home (a convert in the last 2 years). Her Hindi drastically improved because of her Bollywood interest! She probably is more updated on the songs on MTV India than me. More than just a 'hindi' movie song buff, her first question to any upcoming movie is,  "are we going to watch this film in the theatre or on DVD at home?" And so this seemed like a 'perfect Saturday evening plan'.

Guess you never realise that your kid is now ready to sit and enjoy something that you equally enjoy! The ease with which they watch an animated movie is now the same while watching a 'real world' cinema.


And so as per plan, Zoya and me were all set to go for the concert. Prior to the concert day, we did a quick brush up on Pritam's songs, and we figured that she was quite up to date on them (though she still had no idea who 'Pritam' was . And at her end, she had no idea even what a 'Bollywood concert' really was. So I decided to keep that bit a surprise.


And so we reached the venue. Just as we were walking in, I could see the 'twinkle' in her eyes, as though she was walking the red carpet!

My mind quickly rewound to 'my first concert' which was a Bryan Adams concert in the early 1990's in Mumbai. I clearly recollect, me probably being sent so my elder sister didn't have to go alone, and with a clear deadline to get back home on time. We probably managed to catch only 3-4 songs, but I was thrilled that I managed to hear  'Summer of 69'! That was the only song that I knew of then!

Anyway to come back to Zoya, we finally got to our seats. She was overwhelmed with the size of the auditorium, the stage, the lights, the musical instruments on the stage and still couldn't guess what was in store.

And then the show began. The lights came on, the music began and we had some great power-packed performances (thankfully a lot of Zoya's favorite songs). What came on, left her spellbound. She had never seen this kind of entertainment, loud music, people dancing, singers coming and interacting with the crowd, her favorite songs being rendered so powerfully. As the songs came on, you could see she was dazed.

In the first 15 minutes, she figured, who a music composer is, a singer is and the various people part of the band. She realised that composing a song was complicated and the true credit shouldn't go only to the stars but even to the composer, the singer and the band! I was glad! Now when she watches a song or movie, she will probably think a bit more!

It turned out to be a great evening for both of us. I was glad that I took this step and took her for her 'first' Bollywood concert. Like I can never forget my Bryan Adams concert, am sure this will also stay in her mind.

On our taxi ride back home, we both chatted on what a nice evening this was and I asked her if she would happily attend more concerts like this? And the answer was "oh yes and I hope along with Pritam, Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor also perform next time." Am glad, we had a 'date with a difference'.

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