The Queen of Hills came alive resplendent in its full glow as the inaugural cultural evening of Winter line Carnival 2013 warmed hearts with soulful performances on Friday night. Organised by the Government of Uttarakhand, the nationally publicized festival succeeded in drawing a large number of vacationers from across India. The first day of the event showcased a contemplative play delivered by veteran actor Tom Alter accompanied by danseuse Sharmila Bhartari and Bollywood actor Udai Chandra.
Concluding their staging, the trio created a solemn patriotic sentiment among the large audience with a candlelight commemoration of the nationalistic tenets of Mahatma Gandhi.
The philosophical presentation was followed by a guest appearance by Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi who is in the hill town for celebrating New Year and a very pulsating music concert featuring renowned percussionist A Sivamani, Sufi singer Runa Rizvi, Sitarist Ravi Chary and keyboard star Stephen Devassy. Bringing out the best in each other with their playful competition these famous musicians played for over an hour producing a brilliant spontaneous sonata of Indo-western fusion. Creating magic with his music from random objects including an empty mineral water bottle and a travel suitcase, Sivamani who had performed in Dehradun recently once again floored people at the show.
Runa also struck a chord with her sugary voice and command of notes. This musical went well past its scheduled duration, ending around 9 45pm. Mussoorie bred celebrated singer lucky Ali performed next along with an interesting ensemble of instrumentalists.
However, it took an hour for the stage to be set up for lucky Ali's performance that despite a good attempt by the emcee to fill in, did become a bit of a dampener. lucky Ali started his show around 11pm singing some of his most popular numbers with depth.
lamneting that he was very disappointed with the ecological and sanitation deterioration that his native Mussoorie has undergone in the last two decades, the singer urged people to inculcate civic sense and be good citizens. "Don't let the Queen of Hills be begging for survival!" he stressed. Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar sent a video message.