With tribal music, NCPA’s Johar Gandhibaba marks 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

Mumbai-based National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) is celebrating Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary with a musical presentation, which will highlight the influence of his life and struggles on the lives of tribal communities from Jharkhand.

The event titled ‘Johar Gandhibaba’ will see playback singer and composer Megha Sriram Dalton along with a group of Adivasis from Jharkhand taking the audience through a musical evening that will see songs in five native languages. Interspersed with commentary in English and Hindi, the evening will draw parallels between the wisdom of Adivasis and Mahatma.

Commenting on the event, Programming Head-Indian Music at NCPA, Dr Suvarnalata Rao, said, “It is only fit to pay tribute to the great ideals of Mahatma Gandhi with a presentation of songs by the tribal community of Jharkhand as his ideologies and messages are known to have resonated deeply with the country’s oldest and most endured culture.”

It is said that these tribal communities have led their lives on Gandhian ideals - respect for all creation, sustainable co-existence with the universe, a nurturing rather than exploitative worldview and a society based upon consensual participation rather than domination and subjugation.

The event will be anchored by journalist Rajni Bakshi, who has also authored several books including ‘Bapu Kuti: Journeys in Rediscovery of Gandhi’, and former Editor in Cheif of Navbharat Times and Dharmyug Vishwanath Sachdev.

The event will be held at Experimental Theatre, NCPA, July 6, 6:30 pm onwards. Tickets are available on bookmyshow.com