Soulful renditions by Odia singers Shasank Sekhar and Arpita Choudhury, dancer Harihar’s graceful moves and rib-tickling act by comedian Papu Pom Pom were the key attractions of the event
New York: Odisha Society of New England (OSNE), an association of Odias living in New England, the USA Saturday celebrated country’s 74th Independence Day through an online event.
Appropriately titled Ama Desha Ama Mati, Ame Sabu Ekathi (Our nation, our soil, we all are together), the programme was opened with a congratulatory message from Randhir Jaiswal, the Indian Consul General in New York followed by another one from Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik.
Soulful rendition by Odia singers Shasank Sekhar and Arpita Choudhury, hilarious act by comedian Papu Pom Pom and elegant dance by Harihar Dash were the key attractions of the programme.
Shashank and Arpita started off the event with the national anthem and a few other patriotic songs. The duo followed it up with popular numbers from Odia and Hindi films. They also paid rich tributes to late actors Bijoy Mohanty and Sushant Singh Rajput lending voices to the songs from their films. Harihar’s dances on songs from Kesari, Na Tum Jano Na Hum and Muquabla were instant hits with the participants whereas Papu’s rib-tickling comedy triggered an online laugh riot.
Ramesh on Piano, Suresh on guitar and Ram Krushna on octapad were amazing. Somesh Satapathy from Somesh Studio made it possible for all the artists to come together.
OSNE president Debadutta Behera and secretary Manabesh Das opened the event for the online viewers while the evening ended with vote of thanks by OSNE vice-president Pankaj Panda and editor Reema Patnaik. A large number of Internet users from North America, Europe, and Asia joined in to watch the live event.