A Melodious Evening in Houston with Anup Jalota

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Anup Jalota with the Masala Radio crew.

By Dr. Nik Nikam & Vanshika Vipin

HOUSTON: On January 25, Stafford Civic Centre, held one of their first concerts of the year. They were lucky enough to host one of the greatest singers, Padma Shri Anup Jalota;  the Bhajan Samraat, is also the only singer in India with the most Gold, Platinum, and Multi-platinum albums who enthralls his audience with Bhajans, Gazal, which is what he is renowned for. This amazing artist was brought to perform thanks to Jagdesh Dave of Pooja Enterprises and Dr. Satish Patel.

The program started a few minutes late due to technical challenges, but once Anup Jalota came on the stage, the audiences were entertained for more than 3 hours with his melodic music, stories, humor, Bhajans, and Gazals.
Anup Jalota is consummate entertainer. He tried to establish a much more friendlier bond with his audience telling them stories about his life and made people laugh with his jokes, he interacted well with the audience by telling them to join in, as the concert was as much theirs’ as his.

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Anup Jalota with radio host Shoba Joshi.

Beyond his elegant and enticing acts, Anup Jalaota, sang his most famous bhajan Aisi Lagi lagan, and also paid tribute to late Jagdit Singh by singing his favorite numbers like, “Hoto Se Chulo Tum,” and others. At that point the energy and excitement felt in the atmosphere at the Centre was truly remarkable as most of the audience contributed to the music and sang along.

As the crowd applauded the performances with enthusiasm, Anup Jalota along with his musicians couldn’t resist pleasing them with more of his splendid performance. He was accompanied by Dexter, our Houston Rhythm Master who played exquisite beats on his tabla to accent Anup Jalota’s Bhajans. Inspired by his performance, Dexter too was filled with enthusiasm as he accepted the challenge to play Jugal bandi with Anup jalota and his Sitar and Santoor players without missing a beat. He had such skills that he could recite the songs with his fingertips before they were even played or uttered.

Such blissful music surely deserves a crystal clear sound system. Darshak Thacker, from Krishna Sounds provided superb sound and made no room for error. The crowd truly enjoyed the soothing music through his professional sound systems.

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Dr. Nik Nikam, a well-known host for the all India Radio Houston served as the emcee for the evening. Along with being an emcee for the show, he was also lucky enough to have the distinct privilege of interviewing Anup  Jalota for 25 minutes, which can be watched on YouTube or Vimeo under the “NIK NIKAM,” Channel.

Dr. Nik Nikam also recognized David and Chandrakanta Courtney for their four-decades of contribution to the India Hindustani Classical Music and Rhythm in Houston. Dr. Nikam also announced that some of the proceeds from the concert would be donated to charitable institutions such as the Indian Doctors Charity clinic, Daya, and others. Dr. Patel thanked the Atrium Medical center for its support.

With a good feedback on this stunning performance, Jagdesh Dave of Pooja Enterprises thanked the sponsors like Bhojan, Deepa and Ajit Thakkur, ABC Tracel, D&B Designers for their support. Such a performance was truly memorable and more such performances would be awaited in future. To make things more exciting, Dave also quoted that they will be brining Hans Raj and Bappi Lahari in the coming months for many more such magnificent performances.