As the mercury started to take a dip, Kolkata witnessed a warm and spectacular evening on Wednesday with excitement, energetic performances and some care for those in need.
After an 18-year-long hiatus, Bangla bands Chandrabindoo, Cactus and Lakkhichhara came together to perform in a concert, PlugnPlay, at Madhusudan Mancha in Dhakuria in south Kolkata marking World AIDS Day on December 1.
OFFER (Organisation for friends, energies and resources), an NGO, which works with HIV positive children, and Bangla band Cactus, organised the event.
Abhijit Barman (Pota) of the Cactus band had his mother’s funeral at Anandaghar, a residential home for HIV positive kids and orphans, under the aegis of OFFER. After meeting with the children, he proposed a concert on World AIDS Day.
The proceeds of the concert will go to the NGO OFFER.
Kallol Ghosh, who runs the home, promptly agreed. “We were sold out two days before the event. The event was a huge success,” Ghosh said.
Apart from the three heavyweight bands, six other amateur bands also took the stage at the Dakshinapan shopping complex to showcase their craft.
The young bands are Velvet Meets A Time Traveller, Abhik Saha Project, Universe in a Crayon, Moving in Circles, Waiting List and Indicred.
After the young bands, the maestros of the Bangla rock scene took the stage inside the Madhusudan Mancha auditorium.
They took to social media to express their excitement over the success of the event.
“Such a concert involving the three bands happened after ages. We had a great time. It’s like we got our oxygen back. The crowd moved to our tracks like Jibon chaiche aro besi, Prithibita naki choto hote hote and Paliye berai,” said Debaditya Chaudhury of Lakkhichhara.
Cactus’ Siddhartha Ray, better known as Sidhu, shared several fan posts on social media and thanked them for their support in making the evening a grand success. One such post mentioned how a 70-year-old woman was present at the concert and was keen for Chandrabindoo-Cactus and Lakkhichara to take the stage.
“We were all eagerly waiting to perform on the stage. The wait from our audience’s end was also the same,” said Sidhu. “So many people called up asking for tickets, but sadly I had to turn them away.”
According to the Covid protocol mandated by the government only, 70 per cent of the seats were filled at Madhusudan Mancha.
“With the overwhelming response we have received, we will surely be back with another edition of PlugnPlay next year,” said Sidhu.