Pearls Performing Arts Society organised a cultural fest — Manifesto Pearls — at the Tagore Theatre here on Friday to collect funds for tsunami victims.
The organisers collected Rs 30,000 through the fest, which was attended, among others, by Prem Prashant, Financial Commissioner, Haryana, as the chief guest and M.S. Gupta and Rajiv Bali as the guests of honour.
The fest began with a Vandana followed by a dance performance by the students of the academy. Prem Puneeta and her team performed an expressive ballet portraying the sorrow and devastation caused by the tsunami waves.
The ballet through some exquisite dance movements portrayed how the sea, which otherwise is considered as a life-giver, turned into a destroyer, swallowing thousands of people like a giant python on the fateful day of December 26, 2004.
The ballet, however, ends on a positive note when it depicts the story of a young girl named Chandini who was found alive even after 48 hours of the catostrophe.
Another highlight of the fest was melodious renderings of thumri, dadra and ghazal by eminent Lucknow-based classical vocalist Anjali Narayan, who, incidentally is a PhD in music from Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra.
Her performance was followed by some wonderful taal on the tabla by Reshmi Srivastava. The sponsors of the evening were the Chandigarh Administration, Dainik Bhaskar, Coke and Mount Shivalik Breweries. Earlier, a minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect to tsunami victims.