The much anticipated ‘Ghazal Night’ for the community was hosted on Sunday, October 8 at Fickling Community Centre in Three Kings by the Urdu Hindi Cultural Association of New Zealand (UHCANZ).
Patrons of ghazal gathered at the event to witness a saga of great poetry by some of the most prominent ghazal writers and singers from India sung by local community members.
The event was acknowledged and supported with the presence of dignitaries such as parliamentarians Kanwaljit Bakshi, Dr Parmjeet Parmar, Michael Wood, community leader Jeet Suchdev, president of UHCANZ Roopa Suchdev, Ella Kumar from Puketapapa local board attended the event. Suman Kapoor, Sandeep Singh and Somnath Gupta came to the event from Hamilton, Shiv Bhagirath from Australia and Prof. Rais Alvi from Pakistan also witnessed the event.
Nine ghazal singers wowed the audience with their own style and passion for one of the most celebrated form of entertainment that has been performed for centuries having its origins in the middle east before spreading to South Asia.
Ghazal singers Arya and Jatin, Arvind Vasudeva, Kanika Deish, Arif Zia, Sandeep Singh, Nasir Mirza, Gopal Kishan and Jyoti Virk, gave a spectacular performance at the show.
Each of the ghazal singers was accompanied by a harmonium and tabla player. The musicians included Prof. S D Madhur on harmonium, Basant Madhur on tabla, accompanied by guitar player Akhilesh Madhur and violin player Shyama Lal.
The dignitaries at the event also launched the sixth annual edition of Dhanak, a magazine produced by the Urdu Hindi Cultural Association in English, Hindi and Urdu languages.
Urdu Hindi Cultural Association is an organisation for promoting the languages Urdu and Hindi as the major languages of India and Pakistan. It also holds symposiums, publishes magazines and holds teaching classes.
The newly appointed president of the UHCANZ Roopa Suchdev congratulated the performers who gave a stellar evening to the audience and the patrons of this beloved form of art.
“The audience enjoyed the programme thoroughly, and it's profound to see community’s love and respect for poetries and ghazals even away from their home,” Mujeeb Syed, secretary of UHCANZ said.