The Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC)’s Baishe Srabon event this year had some 40 artistes on stage but not a single audience member was seated in the auditorium. Welcome to a cultural programme in Covid times.

Aaji Srabone Rabir Parash was organised by EZCC, ministry of culture, in association with township-based NGO Initiative for Scientific and Public Awareness Target (Ispat) on Sunday and was streamed live on social media, allowing viewers to watch from the safety of their homes.

Even though the state government now allows auditoriums to function with 50 per cent occupancy, the organisers decided to do away with the concept of live audience. Elderly artistes were not invited while those who were called needed to have been vaccinated with at least the first dose.

“We have allowed only the artistes and technicians to come. The artistes too have been asked to leave immediately after his/her performance,” said Abhijit Chatterjee, administrative and documentation officer at EZCC.

Artistes such as Sreeradha Bandyopadhyay took extra precautions. She carried a personal microphone cover with which she asked the technician to cover the mouth of the mic, before she began singing. Other prominent artistes such as Prabuddha Raha, Pranati Thakur and Debarati Shome also performed.

While the artistes missed the excitement of performing before a live audience, it was for the best. “Our programme draws a lot of aged listeners but how can we risk inviting them in the middle of a pandemic?” wondered Manoj Murali Nair, who had come to sing with sister Manisha. “The reach of online shows is greater but the concentration of such audiences is less. At home, people listen to music while eating or chatting.”

Secretary of Ispat Ritesh Basak said while many have been performing from home during the pandemic, a performance needs a solid sound system, which is only available on stage.