[gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="38481,38479,38480"] JEDDAH — To celebrate the 67th Anniversary of India's Republic Day and to pay tribute to the country's freedom fighters, ICSJ and Bazm-e- Osmania organized a grand memorable evening with Bollywood singer Mukhtar Shah, whose voice resembles that of the legendary Bollywood playback singer late Mukesh, at the Indian Consulate in Jeddah on Friday. The musical night, which took the audience back to the haunting tunes and classic lyrics of the music directors and lyricists of yesteryears and belted out in the voice of the doyen singer Mukesh, was made memorable by Mukhtar Shah' confidence and repertoire in rendering the classical numbers. The Chief Guest of the evening was Deputy Consul General and Haj Consul Mohammed Shahid Alam. Special guests were Anand Kumar, consul consular; S.R.H. Fahmi, consul community welfare and HOC; Saudi Gazette Executive Editor Ramnarayan Iyer, Malayam News Editor Hassan Koya, Dr. Kareemuddin, ex-chairman Higher Education Indian Schools, Jeddah, KSA; and Zia Nadwi, director of Al-Falah Delhi Public School, Jeddah. ICSJ patron Dr. Dilshad Shamsi in his welcome speech said: "We have been celebrating India's national days for more than 40 years in Jeddah and we have always shown our love for our country. We have been involved in community work for the Indian community, including the collection and distribution of old textbooks for the needy students of International Indian School Jeddah (IISJ)." ICSJ president Arif Quraishi thanked former Consul General Talmiz Ahmad, who first gave permission to celebrate Indian national days in Jeddah's Indian girls school in 1988, after which all consuls general have been giving permission to ICSJ to hold their events. He also thanked Consul General B.S. Mubarak for his cooperation. He added "We do not sell tickets for any of our national day functions and the expenses are paid with the help of sponsors and ICSJ members." He paid rich tributes to the freedom fighters of India. "It is because of the sacrifices of our freedom fighters that we are able to celebrate our national day and we Indians are respected worldwide," he said. "Living miles away from India since many years we have not forgotten our love for our homeland because of our patriotism." Chief guest Mohammed Shahid Alam congratulated all Indians on the 67th Republic Day of India and expressed appreciation for ICSJ members' efforts in organizing the country's national day function. He praised the patriotism of Arif Quraishi and ICSJ members. "Our consulate is happy to cooperate with ICSJ for our national day functions," he said. After speeches, the cultural program started with a patriotic song ‘Ae mere watan ke logo' by local artist Dhania, followed by another song "Badhi door se aaye hai" by Jimmy Al-Waheedy. Guest of honor, Mukhtar Shah was welcomed on stage as he sang his first song ‘Jis dish mein ganga behti hai hum us dish ke waasi hai". He was presented a shawl and bouquet by the chief guest Alam. After that, Shah sang some of the most memorable and popular songs of Bollywood playback singer late Mukesh, including 14 solo and 12 duet songs with Dhania. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the various performances and was left wanting for more when the program ended on time. Last year in India, Shah sang 130 songs in 13 hours and made the Limca Book of Record. Local singers who participated in the program include Faris Al-Waheedy. The program was compered by Asif Daudi. Vote of thanks was proposed by Arif Masood Siddiqui, ICSJ vice president, who thanked the consul general B.S. Mubarak, chief guest M. Shahid Alam, guest of honor Mukhtar Shah, audience, orchestra members and sponsors. The sponsors included Air India, Indomie, Naghi Motors, Tata Motors, Zawaq Foods, Cigalah Group, RedTag, Jeddah National Hospital, Badruddin Medical Group, Basem International Shipping, Al-Falah International School DPS, Mosaid Travel, Al-Ryan Polyclinic, Spices Garden Restaurant, Pepsi, Master Baker, and Al-Rabie tea. After vote of thanks, local singers, Mukhtar Shah and guests sang "Ramaiyya Wastawaiyya'. The program ended with the Indian national anthem.
