Ekal supporters from Massachusetts, USA, presented a special Diwali gift in the form of a special song titled "Apna Ekal". The song was released by Hon. Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar, on October 21, 2016 in New Delhi India. Javadekar applauded the efforts of Ekal calling it the largest and the most meaningful social impact work in the education space in India. The message was really powerful coming from the minister whose portfolio includes education.
The song, Apna Ekal, is the brainchild of Anuradha Palakurthi, who has provided the vocals for the song. The male vocals are provided by the great singer Hariharan. The music was composed by Prasanna while the lyrics are by Sunayana Kachroo, a poet who resides in Massachussetts. Rhythm accompaniment is provided by Sivamani. Musicians from the world over have been part of the great effort. Sanjeev Sharma made the video for the song.
"The cause of Ekal is really close to our heart. When I learned about Ekal, I decided to create a song for Ekal," says Anuradha Palakurthi. The process was started with commissioning Sunayana Kachroo to pen the lyrics. Anuradha chose Prasanna to compose the song.
The song features beautiful lead vocals by Anuradha Palakurthi and the legendary Hariharan, supported by a children's choir from two Mumbai schools - NSS Hill Spring International and St. Xavier's High School, Fort and a star cast of amazing musicians that includes the super talented Sivamani on percussion.
The song features New York musicians, Ismail, Jay, Abhik, Manu, Steve, Kenny, Nandakumar and Nitin.
Nejal Doshi and Kevin D'Souza, the music teachers of the two schools trained the children. Duff Harris, Shantanu Hudlikar and Saibu Simon worked on the recording.
8 time Grammy Award winning Mix Engineer Elliott Scheiner and the 10 time Grammy award winning Mastering Engineer Bob Ludwig did the mixing for the song.
"I want to introduce you to the amazing work done by the NGO Ekal Vidyalaya, which has educated 10 million children in 54,000 villages in India in the last 10 years! My visionary friends from Boston and Ekal supporters - Anuradha Palakurthi and Prashanth Palakurthi wanted to create an anthem song for Ekal and asked me to compose the song, with inspiring lyrics by poet Sunayana Kachroo. Thanks to the passion and humanitarian spirit of the Palakurthis, today I am proud to present you this heartwarming song "APNA EKAL", which was officially launched on Oct 21 by the Hon'ble Indian Minister of Human Resources Development Shri. Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi. The poignant film for the song was made by Sanjeev Sharma" said Prasanna in a newsletter he sent out to his fans.
Apna Ekal song credits:
Lyrics: Sunayana Kachroo
Prasanna - Composer, Producer, Acoustic guitars, Electric guitars, Vocals
Anuradha Palakurthi - Lead Vocals, Executive Producer
Hariharan - Lead Vocals
Children’s Choir - NSS Hill Spring International School and St. Xavier’s High School, Fort, Mumbai
Jay Gandhi - Flute
Ismail Lumanovski - Clarinet
Abhik Mukherjee - Sitar
Manu Koch - Piano, Fender Rhodes, Korg CX3 Hammond Organ
Steve Jenkins - Bass
Kenny Grohowski - Drums
T.S. Nanda kumar -Mridangam
Nitin Mitta - Tabla
A. Sivamani - Bells, Shakers, Tambourine, Triangle, Daf, Kanjira, Ghungroo
Recorded at East Side Sound, New York
Engineered by Duff Harris
Additional Recordings at Yash Raj Studios, Mumbai - Engineered by Shantanu Hudlikar and at
In the Mix Studios, Mumbai - Engineered by Saibu Simon
Mixed by Elliot Scheiner at Eyeball Studio, Reading, CT
Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME
|
