Rangeela celebrates diversity

CULTURAL diversity was on display during the Carifesta XIV presentation of Rangeela at the Central Bank Auditorium in Port of Spain on Thursday night.

During the show, the small but appreciative audience felt as if they had been transported to India to experience the best of that country’s culture, including a taste of Bollywood.

Chandra Katwaroo delighted the audience with a medley of songs, including some from the film The Mystic Masseur, filmed in TT in 2001. The film was based on VS Naipaul’s novel.

Nisha Madaran from Suriname moved the audience with some of her popular songs, such as Tu Hi Mera Dil (You are my heart). A former law student at the University of Suriname, Madaran started singing at 16. She is now an award-winning and Bollywood-contracted singer.

Madaran was decorated by Suriname President Desi Bouterse in 2016 for the way her music integrates all people and cultures, positively brands Suriname and for her social work for women and children.

The audience was also thrilled by dance performances from Arti Nundy from Canada, Guyana’s Indian Classical Dance and Drumming Ensemble and the Rajasthani Folk Group from India.

Other notable performances came from Janelle Pundit, Sitara Baal and D’Untouchables Tassa Group.

Themed We Mark Your Memory, Rangeela was billed as a cultural showcase of literature, music and dance which paid homage to the memory of the East Indian contribution to Caribbean culture. Rangeela is derived from the Hindustani word for “colourful.”

The curtain comes down on Carifesta tomorrow, with a closing ceremony followed by an afterparty at the Queen’s Park Savannah.