Shailesh Misra, resident of Alok Vihar 2, summed up the vision of Meghdutam Rangmanch in the following message, “You are making this place so much better.”
All activities and events held during the Festival and across the year are ultimately aimed to bring the community together by enriching the lives of residents through participation or simply enjoying local talent perform in various performing and visual arts and several creative workshops.
We received contributions from both apartments and individuals. While individual patrons desired to remain anonymous, it is incumbent on our part to thank the following apartments in these pages for their support – Antriksh Greens, Omaxe Twin Towers, Stellar Kings Court, Mahagun Manor, Alok Vihar 1 (F3), Shubhkamna Apartment, Palm Grove, Mahagun Maestro, and Windsor Greens.
The Horticulture Department of Noida Authority extended all cooperation to the Festival. The Deputy Director, Anand Mohan, inspected the park and the amphitheatre a few days before the festival commenced. The ground staff in the park ensured that the amphitheatre and the huts were spick and span for all events.
The Meghdutam Rangmanch team thanks all residents and RWAs/AoAs for having participated in the Festival and welcoming our cultural offerings for the community. Thanks to Joby Joseph, an amateur photographer residing in Stellar Kings Court, we will have excellent coverage of our major events.
Readers who wish to receive information about our programs may please send their name, contact number and sector number on Whatsapp to 9899437350 to join the broadcast group of Meghdutam Rangmanch.
This year we introduced an entire evening to theatre and this will be a regular feature from now on. We organized 4 dance and music evenings, 1 theatre evening, 4 workshops and 5 day events. We thank all lead persons who took responsibility for conducting Festival events. The following write-ups have been authored by them.
Theatre in the Park: In our first endeavour to do theatre in last year’s Meghdutam Festival, we had staged “Andher Nagri Choupat Raja” which was a huge success. This motivated us to include theatre as a regular feature. This year, on 18 November, we staged another comedy skit “Guru Ghantal Jhamele Mein.” A group of ladies from Crescent Apartment participated in this comic skit. Their enthusiasm was awesome. Dress, dialogues, props everything was taken care of very well by them, especially the manner in which they created the main prop “chipkali” (lizard). The skit was hilarious. Audience’s reaction was extremely positive and overwhelming.
Another play “Dumroo”, scripted by Poonam Arora and directed by Sujata Tripathi, was about the eccentricities and hypocrisies we encounter in our daily lives. The comedy musical play of Silver City, Sector 93, was performed brilliantly by children and senior citizens representing three generations.
Two more plays in the making could not materialize due to unavoidable reasons. Nevertheless, we are confident that theatre will be a regular feature of Meghdutam Rangmanch. Maybe a two-day theatre festival in the near future!! Let’s see. (Sarla Adhikari, theatre director)
Exploring Elegance Through Ink: On 25 November participants immersed themselves in the artful world of calligraphy during an engaging workshop. Enthusiasts, both novice and experienced, gathered to learn the fundamentals of calligraphy. The workshop kicked off with an introduction to various calligraphy styles, from classic scripts to modern lettering. Participants delved into the intricacies of penmanship.
The workshop was a journey into the world of refined artistry. It not only imparted practical skills but also fostered a sense of community among participants who shared a passion for the timeless beauty of calligraphy. As ink flowed and letters danced gracefully across pages, the workshop proved to be a delightful exploration of creativity and self-expression. (Tanvi Saraiya, Calligraphist)
Classical Dance Concert: Indian classical dance is a rainbow of different stories of our culture and tradition from different parts of our country. It is an ocean of creativity yet within its boundaries, teaching each one of us, a bit of life! Classical dance concert was introduced in the Meghdutam Annual Fest 2022. It aims to bring the learners on stage to nurture their passion as well as introduce residents to the world of Indian Classical Dances. Last year we curated beautiful kathak and bharatnatyam dances. This year, on 25 November, we introduced a kuchipudi performance as well. Performers were from Natraajan Nrityakala Aashram Sec 76 and Natrajanjali by Ipshita Bhattacharya, Kuchipudi was performed by Saanvi Agarwal of Alok Vihar 1. There were classical compositions like Tirvat, Kuthakita, Thumri, Roopang dehi, Ganesh Vandana, etc. Finale performance was an artistic Kathak Katha Vachan – Draupadi Cheerharan choreographed by Prerna Sharma.
Marvellous performances by all learners under the guidance of their gurus (teachers) were applauded immensely by audience. (Prerna Sharma, kathak and tabla artist)
Zumba Fitness Workout: People from several apartments converged on 26 November morning to participate in a one-hour gruelling dance workout, Zumba, led by an experienced coach. Zumba is an entertaining way to stay fit and healthy, and enjoy the company of others as well. This way workout enthusiasts expands from a group within an apartment to the larger community that offers a wider circle from which to connect and make friends. Meghdutam Rangmanch has conducted several sessions in the past; it tries to conduct a session every month. Around 25 persons participated in this Festival Zumba session. (Arti Jain and Vinod Agarwal)
Daryaganj – Books in the Park: Stephen King famously said that books are a uniquely portable magic. Maybe that is why there was magic in the air on the lovely Sunday morning on 26 November, when book lovers came together for Daryaganj – Books in the Park, as part of the Meghdutam Fest 2023. Children’s books, famous classics, modern literature, poetry collections, comic books, periodicals, self-help books, light reads, dense reads: it was all there laid out on the steps of the amphitheater. People came in with books they had read and wanted to share, and went back with their next read.
And while books were being laid out, browsed through, and discussed, how could there not be a sharing of stories? An open mic saw lovely stories being shared by a couple of storytellers. Someone read out a poem written by their mother, an ode to their grandchild. Toddlers ran up to the stage to recite poems about vegetables and toffees. A poem captured the various hues of the inexhaustible wonder that is India.
Gurvinder Sital, resident of Sagar, a book lover and collector, said, “In the era of digital currency and credit cards finding numismatics is a rare thing. Mr. Pradeep sharma has kept the hobby alive and has a world class collection of coins which requires an enormous amount of work to collect and arrange.” On one side, Pradeep ji and some other collectors showed their collection. (Sarvesh Mehrotra)
Rock Band Concert: The rock concert evening, 26 November, was full of rhythm and energetic melodious numbers featuring two Rock Concert bands presenting Western and Bollywood genres. Pankaj Sharma from Meghdutam Apartment and Peter Baker from Sagar Presidency Apartment along with other members of the core team were instrumental in organizing the two bands – Airstream and Soul Salad. The band music was thoroughly enjoyed with great JOSH by young and old who had gathered at the open air amphitheatre to watch the bands perform.
The following musicians contributed towards making the Rock Band Concert a great one – For the Airstream Band – Alem, Ngatik, Ahao, Adhyan, and Peter Baker; for Soul Salad – Pankaj Sharma, Ashish Senapati from Elite Golf Green Sector 79, Dr. Mridusmita Mandal from Overseas Apartments Sector 50, Sharad Jain from Sagar Apts Sector 50, Amit Varshney from Amrapali Silicon City Sec 76, Sarvesh Mehrotra from Amrapali Golf View 2, and Royal, the drummer. (Pankaj Sharma, Meghdutam Apartment)
Music in the Park: On a chilly evening of 02 December music brought together music lovers, from near and far, to warm everyone’s hearts. The event saw participation from singers and music instrumentalists from all societies around Meghdutam Park. There was something for everyone, music of various genres beautifully presented – Classical, Semi Classical, Sufi and Bollywood. Participants were of all ages, from small children to senior citizens. Apart from singers performing on Tabla, Djembe, Guitar and Karaoke tracks, there were various instrumentalists with flute and mouth organ.
The lively and receptive audience thoroughly enjoyed and encouraged all the participants. This event has always solicited new and upcoming artists, giving them a launching pad for their further growth. We will continue to have open mic sessions from time to time for new and fresh talents.
At the end, there was an impromptu Jam Session, wherein the audience joined in singing together old and new melodies, clapping their hands and tapping their feet. (Dr. Mridusmita Mandal)
Nature Play Workshop: A fun-filled nature play workshop was organized, on 02 December, for kids to encourage outdoor exploration, creativity, and a connection to the natural world. The workshop was conducted by Nattasha Kapoor, a Mindfulness Coach & Visual Arts Trainer, and Supriya Maheshwari, a Health & Wellness Coach. The session, conducted in the luxuriant green ambiance of Meghdutam Park, encouraged children to create nature-inspired art. The children learnt to experience all the five senses, observe the elements of nature around them and collected a wide variety of things – leaves, rocks, feathers, twigs, and petals– to make their own superhero, they loved. They experienced a plethora of emotions, their imagination ran wild and we had a huge variety of characters – from Mrs. Feather to Mr. Feeder, Ms. Wondegirl to Mr. Pumpkin and Peterman to Chutku, we had it all. Children were engaged in the idea that every element around us has a story to tell; they formed teams and weaved beautiful stories with each character playing an amazing role in the story. They came up with different genres of stories including fables, horror, comedy and fantasy. While Mr. Feeder was saved by Peterman in the fantasy story, a horror drama unfolded where a not-so-wicked butterfly was rescued by Mr. Pumpkin.
Children were taught the importance of respecting and preserving nature, and instilling in them the understanding that “The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth.” After storytelling and role play, each child brought their characters to life on paper. It was a joy to watch the kids’ enthusiasm, their imagination explored the realms of endless possibilities, and they became not just nature explorers but also story-tellers for the day. And each child’s unique story definitely touched ours! (Nattasha Kapoor and Supriya Maheshwari)
The Potter’s Wheel: They say that if you truly want to create something, “then don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty”. That is quite literally what the participants ended up doing at the Pottery Workshop that was held on 03 December, a beautiful sunny morning at the Meghdutam Festival. Under the guidance of Puppu the Potter, children and adults alike, whose hands were probably more accustomed to holding a mobile phone, took to working the clay effortlessly. They result were miniature creative works of ceramic art, from cups and plates to flower vases and diyas – the hands worked magic. For many, just the feel of grasping a lump of clay with both hands and then seeing it grow into a recognisable shape, was not only exciting, but also a way to connect to earth and all things natural. Incidentally this also happens to be one of the core themes of the Meghdutam Rangmanch – To draw people out of their digital bubbles, to get ‘hands on’ exposure and ‘real time’ interaction with others and in the process to learn by physically touching and experiencing the world around us.
The clay artefacts, ‘baked’ by the morning sun, were proudly carried away as prized possessions by their creators. (Anupam Mohanty, Palm Grove)
Leaf Impressions Workshop: Curated and conducted by Divyendu Anand (artist and sculptor), Shubhkamna Apartment, on 03 December,Leaf Impressions provided an opportunity for children in a fun and engaging way to explore how printing works, and also to experiment with mixing and applying colours. Getting to work with a wide variety of leaves, they got a chance to examine the finer details of leaves and the similarities and differences between them in the process of printing. Leaf Impressions is a great way to encourage creativity and experimentation in children and was well received by parents.
More than 25 children participated in the workshop. Arti Jain from Antriksh Greens and Parul Tyagi, herself an artist, from Mahagun Mezzaria, assisted in the conduct of the workshop. Pic: Leaf impressions
Apartment Group Dance Performances: Community dancing is a great way of bringing people together. This event receives the most audience because the spirit and enthusiasm of community representation draws many residents to the amphitheatre. Also one reason why we decided to organize the concert, 03 December, as the finale of the 5-day Meghdutam Festival. Just like theatre, group dances (classical or contemporary) are team events that entail community interaction, planning, commitment to schedules and discipline. Community dancing increases self-confidence, self-esteem, self-expression, interpersonal skills, and social trust among children and adolescents.
Some group dances were choreographed by residents, or coordinated by dance school teachers and gurus, with one group consisting of dancers hailing from different apartments. The following societies performed group dances at the festival: Antriksh Apartment, Crescent Apartment, Stellar Kings Court from Sector 50, Amrapali Princely Estate and Amrapali Silicon City from Sector 76, Kendriya Vihar Apartment in Sector 51, NRI Residency from Sector 45, and children from a well-known Kathak School in Noida. Ranging from Bollywood dance numbers, hip hop, traditional folk dances to a classical kathak recital, the evening was a visual treat to watch as all dancers came out in full colourful regalia based on their dance.
