Amruta Behera's CAS Blog

I volunteered at the Kolkata String Festival organized by Siddha Community Foundation which is a non-profit organisation helping the society. Artists from all around the world came to participate and showcase their talent. I helped artists with their equipment, food and helped to felicitate the artists on stage.

Different schools that do not have the opportunity to be exposed to the culture of the modern world were given a chance to come and watch the performances.

Tiesto Sisters

One of my admired performances of the first day were the Tiesto Sisters. They were two sisters from Nagaland who played the ‘Tati’. They explained how the ‘tati’ is a gift from god and was given to man to play happy and cheerful songs for functions like weddings.

The songs they sung with the tati define the beauty of a woman and their love. Their performance was different and it was first time I was listening to an instrument from Nagaland. They sang a song about friendship and how friends help you move forward in life.

Langa Manganiyars

They were a group of 5 artists from Rajasthan. They were my favourite group of the day. I had seen them perform when I lived in Melbourne. They played several different types of string instruments such as the Kamaicha, Sindhi Sarangi, and Ravanhatta. The artists played with a lot of enthusiasm and energy.

They played around with sounds and beats, which gave a very different and exotic effect to the performance, Listening to their music made me happy. They involved the audience in a clapping rhythm ‘Jugalbandi’(two different artists / musicians play two different instruments while performing together ). It was a brilliant performance!

Overall, it was a wonderful experience and helped me understand the value of helping the society.