Bickram Ghosh, Ricky Kej live celebrates ‘International Mother Language Day’

Azadi ka Amrit Mohatsav ki ek haseen shaam. The Ministry of Culture celebrated the International Mother Language Day with a special two-day event at Indira Gandhi National Center of Arts, (IGNCA) New Delhi. Organized in collaboration with UNESCO, the event ‘Ekam Bharatam’ witnessed Tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh and Grammy Winning Composer Ricky Kej performed live at the celebration.

The event marked the official release of ‘Vande Bharatam’ soundtrack, which has been co-created by Ghosh and Kej through virtual interactions during the pandemic. Over 500 dancers performed to the tune of the soundtrack during the Republic Day 2022 celebrations. From now on, it will be known in history as the ‘Signature Tune’ of the Vande Bharatam Initiative.

Shrimati Meenkashi Lekhi, Honorable Minister of State for Culture, spoke on the event and formally released the soundtrack across YouTube as well as music streaming platforms such as Spotify, JioSaavn, and Amazon Music.

Delivering the keynote, Smt. Lekhi said, “Our culture is our heritage and we must encourage the youth to take it forward. As our forefathers dreamt of a free India, in the same way, we have to dream of shaping the vision of a New India in the coming 25 years. We are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to commemorate 75 years of Independence and may Vande Bharatam be our force as we work towards new heights for India at 100.”

Commenting upon the essence of the soundtrack, she added that it resonates with the spirit of ‘Vande Mataram’ – the music that inspired our countrymen to fight for their freedom.

Bickram Ghosh, a renowned classical tabla player, is considered as one of the pioneers of experimental fusion music. As a music composer, he has lend his art to more than 30 feature films, out of which one earned him an Oscar Nomination. This doesn’t come as a surprise since Bickram has been the disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar for nearly a decade. Under the stalwart‘s guidance, Ghosh travelled the globe and learnt how to imbibe different cultures in his music compositions. The impact of Pandit Ji’s learnings reflects throughout his life works, including Ghosh’s contribution in the ex-Beatles member George Harrison’s album ‘Brainwashed’. On a personal note, his band, known as Rhythmscape, has been performing successful live shows across the world since its debut in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 2003. The band has a star-studded lineup including Zitar prodigy Abhishek Mallick, who adds a different flavor of fusion with his new-age electric sitar (Zitar) resonating the soulful tunes of the original instrument.

While the list of appreciation goes on for the Prince of Tabla, Ricky Kej is a global figure himself. He has created over 3,500 jingles for radio and television throughout his music career. His album, Winds of Samsara bagged him the Grammy Award in the 57^th edition for the ‘Best New Age Album’. Having performed music shows across the world for more than a decade now, Kej continues to showcase his environmentalist side to the world. A strong advocate of climate change, he is currently an ambassador for the Earth Day Network, a UNESCO – MGIEP Global Ambassador for Kindness, and a UNICEF Celebrity Supporter.

UNESCO declared February 21 as the International Mother Language Day in 2000 and ever since, the day is celebrated to promote awareness about multiculturalism, cultural diversity and linguistics. The theme of 2022 celebration is “Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities”.