More than 400 people gathered at 7:30 PM on 22nd of June in Sunbridge Auditorium, Concord to listen to the Dama Dam Girl, Runa Laila and turn the evening into a memorable one. Jyoti Nagiah introduced the organizers, sponsors and the artists of the evening Runa Laila, Jolly Mukherjee, Jojo and Sumi.

The program begin with a hit number ‘Oh Re Chhori’ sung by the young artist of the evening Ms.Jojo. The mostly Bengali audience was very pleased to hear the next number, which was in Bengali. Jojo rendered Asha Bhosale's numbers with precision which requires a great deal of skill. ‘Churaliya Liya Hai’ was a big hit.

Jolly Mukherjee was the next presenter. He started with Kishore’s hit from Parichay, ‘Musafir Hoon Yaaron’ as a tribute to Pancham. It is very difficult to imitate the great Kishore Kumar and while Jolly made a good effort it was not very successful. He then sang one of his own hit songs ‘Haya Hoon Haya’ from Dayawan which had the audience tapping their feet. He also sang a Bengali song and followed it with his latest hit, ‘Yeh Shahat’ from the movie Raaz.

People were delighted when finally the star of the night Runa walked in gorgeously clad in a black saree. She started her presentation with a Bengali song followed it with a Hindi hit ‘Dinwa Dinwa Mein’. She also sang her old hit song ‘Suno Suno Meri Kahani Suno’. Runa Laila was very amicable and reached out to her audience. She encouraged them to sing and dance. At one point she even had Roma Chattopadhayay, one of the organizer accompany her. It was definitely an eventful evening for her fans and all those who were present there.

The credit for bringing Runa Laila to New England goes to the vision and passion of Roma and Kusal Chattopadhyay of R-K Vision. R-K vision was formed in 2001 with a vision to bring excellence in service and culture to Asian American community through essential services and cutural program management. “We are from a rich cultural background and through R. K. Vision we wish to share our culture in New England,” says Kusal of R. K. Vision. In the past, R-K Vision has sponsored the Bengali Conference and is planning to present plays and India Festival in future. Fore more information visit their web-site at http://www.r-k-vision.com/.

"Heredity in Culture is our Identity, restore identity to create awareness in the US. People in the US should know our contributions", says Kusal.

|