It was great to see many of you at our event last Sunday: INSTRU-FUSION by Shri. Rajhesh Vaidhya (fondly known as RV) and team. Enclosed is an event synopsis, our personal journey and experiences leading to the event and our gratitude to everyone who made this happen !
The entire team (RV and troupe, light & sound technicians and our team) started preparing for the concert from 10 am the Reading Concert Hall, It was a pleasure to see this majestic venue gradually taking shape… seating laid out, podiums decorated, sound, lighting equipment and projectors going up. The bonus for us was the practise session performance and all the fun and banter with the team !
We were all done by 1 pm and ready to welcome patrons, some waiting for gates opening at 3 pm ! We truly appreciate the punctuality of our patrons, allowing us to keep to the event design. As planned, after a brief introduction and welcoming artistes onto stage, we were ready for the show just before 4:30 pm.
Rahjesh Vaidhya commenced the show with a warm personal message and a few devotional songs as invocation (Carnatic and film based) and then paced up with golden oldies, moving onto magical medleys. He captivated the audience in his own inimitable style - handling the compere, audience interaction, humour and experience sharing all so eloquently woven into the performances.
The first half lasted nearly 2 hours with some spectacular medleys of Illayaraja, AR Rahman and also effortlessly blending in all-time western hits (Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World” and Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”). It was a surreal moment when an audience of over 500 waved their phone torches through the rendition of “Heal the World” !
It was a treat to witness the sheer magic of Rajhesh Vaidhya transforming the Veena to a centre stage hero, so wonderfully complemented by a dream team of artistes (Chandrajith Durairaj on Tabla, Sai Hari on Ghatam, Jeyathasan Kandiah on drums, Krish Ravi on Guitar and Vijayan Vincent on Keyboards). At the break, on behalf of patrons we gave RV a surprise felicitation for his birthday in the last week (something we planned the day we noticed his birthday while doing visas 😊).
If the audience were already in a trance after the first half, the second half was a sweeter surprise - almost entirely devoted to audience requests !!!. With mics going around the room, RV took any request coming his way - from old melodies, current hits and even Bollywood numbers. A truly unique experience which once again had the audience awestruck with the sheer calibre of the entire team of artistes who played each and every request INSTANTLY, with literally zero prep or discussion time !!
The grand finale after the audience requests was a power packed medley with some electrifying compositions of Illayaraja and MS Viswanathan. With a single-minded focus on audience delight, the concert went above and beyond with nearly 4 hours of sheer bliss (a rare phenomenon these days with celebrity concerts), leaving the audience totally immersed and offering a standing ovation for all the artistes. We concluded just after 8:30 pm with a thanksgiving to this truly magical team !
It is indeed nostalgic as we look back and share our build up to this event… Our first chat with RV was only 2 months ago when we heard about his Europe tour. We felt a great rapport and instant connect from the first call and despite an already busy diary in the UK, he was open to our invitation. A very encouraging endorsement from Maadhu Balaji (of Crazy Creations) to RV on his own personal UK tour experiences with us then simply closed the event for us on the same day !
Besides the initial calls, we also fondly recall some of the team making a personal trip to Germany for a first-hand event experience and meeting RV and team. That was the beginning and the relationship that has evolved since then is truly one of kind, with the feeling of an extended family now ! It has been a whirlwind of emotions and true camaraderie with Mr. Vaidhya and the entire team since they touched down in Europe, reaching a magical crescendo at the Sunday concert and a very emotional family farewell for their flights back to India earlier this week.
RV and the troupe also had great words of praise for the I for India audience their warmth, appreciation and whole-hearted cheering throughout the event. The birthday celebration and ovation at the end was a truly emotional moment, for the artistes and audiences alike !
Our sincere thanks are due to Shri. Rajhesh Vaidhya and the entire performing team for placing their trust in us and agreeing to our invitation to host this event. We certainly enjoyed watching them on stage, and equally relished the informal off-stage fun moments and social occasions with them, very much like old friends catching up. We were pleasantly surprised by their warmth, humility and very friendly nature - making this an even more memorable journey on either side !
We also wish to place on record our appreciation, thanks and gratitude to the Reading Concert Hall for such a tailor-made venue - one of the best musical venues in Reading! We are so grateful to Jane Austen, Rick Bull and the entire team for so keeping up so patiently with all our anxious requests and demands, some even last minute, all in the interest of a great audience experience!
Especially for those who missed this landmark event, we place below a link for a virtual tour of the “INSTRU-FUSION” concert:
A show of this magnitude would not be possible without the support and confidence given by all our strategic partners. We wish to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to the following partners for their unflinching support towards making this event an overall success:
• Lyca TV and Lyca Remit • HDFC Limited (home Loans) • DNS Accountants • Lifeline Protect • CrossPay • Wealthmax • Indra Travels • Kingfisher Premium Lager
Last but not least, thanks to all you patrons and members of the I for India community for filling the venue to full capacity with your friends and families. Well done to each and every one of you, YOU ARE ALL CONTRIBUTORS to the success of this milestone event !!