This Mother’s Day, Boston based band LEHER presented a Live musical show bringing Sufi-inspired music for the first time in Boston at their musical fundraiser concert: Sufiyana Bahaar on their fifth anniversary.The Sufi-inspired musical extravaganza not only was an energy packed melodic success but also was evidence for how a whole community mobilizes together to put on a wonderful show for an incredible cause. Thank you for helping us raise funds and awareness for our partners AID Boston’s maternal and child grassroots health projects: Sochara in Madhya Pradesh, Tribal Health Initiative in Tamil Nadu, Swasthya Swaraj in Orissa. 

LEHER showcased a beautiful mix of entrancing Qawwalis such as Piya Haji Ali, Akhiyan Udeek Diyan, Khwaja mere Khawaja, and Sufi-inspired classics with a fusion rendition such as Afreen Afreen, Arziyan, Tu maane ya na maane dildara which kept the audience clapping along at the historic Cary Memorial Auditorium. Attendees were wooed by the wonderful shayari by our Master of Ceremonies, Mr. Syed Ali Rizvi and entertained by the voices of Dr Amal and Raagini Jawa, Dr Sanjay Jain, and Sushil Motwani accompanied by Krishan Aneja and Paul Senn on guitar, Vinphin Varghese on percussion, and Keshav and Mukund Desibhatla, our newest and youngest musicians on tabla and harmonium. The magical night ended with the popular and soulful Duma Dum Mast Qalander that brought the audience to its feet. 

The credit for this production goes out to the Leher community of friends and volunteers who helped make this show possible. We couldn’t have done it without our incredible guest musicians Dipankar and Shauni Deshmukh who mesmerized us with their Sarod and Esraj, Sherwin Erfani who featured the melodious sounds of his Setar,  the awesome local band Charles Delta and Travis D’Cruz for their incredible post-punk rock vibes to classic Sufiyana numbers, and our graceful Sufiyana dancers Vasudha Kudrimoti, Rakhee Wagal, Hanna Jose, and Vaishali Gade who emulated the spirit of the traditional whirling dervishes.

A big thank you for the support of our impeccable MC Syed Ali Rizvi, our guest announcers Anil Saigal, Harish Dang, and AID Boston President- Pooja Parameswaran, media partners Lokvani, TV Asia, Boston Desi Connection, WUML Gunjan Radio, Radio Music India, decorations by Alankar, food by Chettinad Indian Grill, City of Lexington, and our volunteers Keyur Parikh, Gopi Sharma, Gopika Narula, Lakshmi Vemuri, Shefali Kadakia, Ashish Gupta, Jag Ganti, Sanjay Kudrimoti, Alia Rizvi, and our friends at AID Boston. 

Last but not least, our sincerest thank you for the magnanimous support from our Boston audience who clapped, cheered, danced, and participated along with us and allowed us to present a Live Sufiyana musical concert by local band for the first time. Our LEHER "waves" are getting larger, and our connections are becoming stronger, and we look forward to seeing you all NEXT YEAR at our 6th annual Leher show- more details to come soon!! 

Leher or "waves" is a Boston based band that started 5 years ago, as an idea to connect local musicians and artists together for the purpose of bringing various genres of live South Asian music to our community and provide a medium to keep our passion for music alive by working together for a charitable cause. Please check out show videos on www.youtube.com/Leherboston, show pictures on our facebook page: Leher Boston and email us at leherboston@gmail.com if you are interested in joining our team. 

If you would like to donate to AID Boston, please check out their website: boston.aidindia.org.

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