dooradinda baMdanta Archana, Subbanna!
Ivaru bhaari hadugarru – alwa ri!
program bhaari chalo itthu – howdu ri!

nalku ghaMte kAla eshTu bEga hOyto kaane,
naakaaNe naakaaNe nanna dewaraaNe!

Well, this possibly sums-up how the Bhava Sangama program was!

On Saturday 10th Nov 2007, there was yet another celebration and festive mood during Bhava Sangama at GIIS, Queenstown. Two great singers from Karnataka– Sri. Shimoga Subbanna & Smt. Archana Udupa sang their heart out and entertained us. It was a true celebration of kannaDa rajyOtsava & deepAvaLi for all Singannadigas present.

The program started at about 5.45pm, with invocation song by Smt. Pratima Bellave and a welcome speech. This was followed by Singara Puraskara distribution to three of our young talents – by Shri. Shimoga Subbanna. Then began the evening's main attraction whereby Shri. Shimoga Subbanna and Smt. Archana Udupa performed by turns. While Shimoga Subbanna entertained us with Bhavageethe and patriotic numbers, Archana Udupa rendered old melodies from Kannada movies, along with karaoke tracks. The artists were ably accompanied by local artists – Shri Lazer Thurakkal Sebastine on the keyboard, Smt. Vaishali Ajit Malshe on Tabla & Smt. Vishalakshi Vaidya on vishEsha laya vAdyagaLu.

The second half of the program began with Singara Cup awards distribution by Smt. Rajashree Murthy, Director of XLRI Jamshedpur, Singapore Campus & the chief guest of the evening. The singing continued and it looked like the singers renewed energy from the audience. Neither the audience nor the singers seemed to get tired. There was a wide variety of popular songs – melody, folk songs, patriotic songs, dance numbers, old movie songs, new movie songs – something for everyone. We are sure that our own local talents who sang the National Award winning number "kaDu kudure Odi baMdittA" along with Shri Subbanna and Smt. Archana will carry this memory with them for a long time to come. The program went on and on for 4 hours, with the permission of the audience and their repeated requests for encores. In fact, due to time constraints, Shri Subbanna put a stop when the audience demanded a third time encore of the famous song "kODagana KOLi nuMgitta"!!

Have you ever imagined the quiet, shy Kannadigas swaying and dancing to the beat of music in public?! Well, that is what happened when Smt. Archana Udupa repeated the well-known number "dUradiMda baMdaMta suMdaraMga jANa". The entire auditorium came alive when a group of about 25 Kannadiga's, young and old alike lead the dancing in front of the stage! Some fathers even carried their children on their shoulders and danced!! There were dance, claps, whistles and the audience was completely mesmerized.

Kannada Sangha committee had meticulously planned and executed the event, to overcome some of the short-comings surfaced in previous programs. The result was a flawless execution, which was appreciated and lauded by one and all. Food arrangements (from one of the sponsors) and an arrangement of keeping our active youngsters engaged by playing movies for kids in a separate room (thanks to Shri. Jayaprakash) ensured that all audience enjoyed could sit back, relax and enjoy the program with no worries. It was a fulfilling moment for organizers, singers and the lovely audience, who were more than 250 in number.

vaMdanegaLoMdige,
Kannada Sangha,
Singapore