Title: Sneham 2015
Concept: Fund Raiser for Sneha charitable Trust
Date: 10/10/2015
Location: Snehadan Campus, Sarjapur Road, Carmelaram P.O, Ambedkar Nagar, Bengaluru-560 035

2015 marks the first year of Sneham, a musical extravaganza organised by Sneha Charitable Trust. The campus was bustling with energy and preparations were heating up as we were nearing the 10th of October, the day of the event. One could not but notice the collective effort of the core team and staff along with the support of our community, gathering momentum, with everyone involved working with their hearts set on making this a successful event.

A few months ago, not too far back, the idea of hosting an event of this proportion was not on anyone’s mind. In fact, it was but wishful thinking on our parts and we were pretty much going to dismiss it, but for the determination and grit of some of the more determined among us who saw a dream and wanted to leave it to God to make it happen, as opposed to assuming that they could within their power see it through. It was thus, that from the very beginning, this entire journey was an affair that was always left in God’s hands, worked on by a core team of dedicated folks who simply had Sneham in their hearts. Reaching out to Chitra Chechi in that time, we were quite surprised by the warm welcome we received in her home, both by herself and her husband. They whole-heartedly supported our initiative and offered to do this for without remuneration. The work of God was clearly beginning to show through.

In the months since then, we had to work together, with sleepless nights and long days, executing on the vision of Sneham 2015. This was a new experience for almost everyone on the team and yet every single one on the core team rolled up their sleeves and took to the task knowing that God was on their side, on the side of a few ordinary people trying to do something extraordinary for the sake of a greater good. The amount of work that needed to be done for such an event was tremendous – the printing & distribution of banners & posters, advertising & marketing, ticket sales, spreading the word, finding sponsors, the stage arrangements, setting up food stalls, cooking food for the guests, helping with all the ancillary arrangements like sound, lighting, decorations, generators, grounds preparation, security, conveniences, emergency services, crowd & traffic control, parking and on and on. By the grace of God, all of these preparations went through flawlessly, considering that they were coordinated and executed by people who had no prior experience in this type or scale of event.

In spite of all the preparations we were carrying out, things that seemingly were in our control, there was one thing we could not control and that was the weather. Hence, in those same months, we were anxiously looking to the skies every day, watching the rains pour down almost every day, so unusually for Bangalore, wondering if all of our efforts would be for nought. So began, the prayers and intercessions ever more powerfully. Prayer groups throughout Bangalore and in other States began to intercede and pray on our behalf. It was important to keep the focus on the fact that this was God’s work and so to leave this too in his hands.

On the eve of the Event, Friday, October 9th, Chitra Chechi and team had arrived from Chennai safe and sound. The troupe accompanying the team, with Nouful, Nazim and Roopa and all the instrumentalists had arrived too. The children of Sneha Care Home and Snehagram had prepared a special welcoming ceremony and entertainment for Chitra Chechi and troupe for that evening. There is no greater proof of just how overwhelmed and impressed they were then when we all saw Chitra Chechi get up from her seat and run to the stage where one of the children had just completed the dance and gave her a warn hug and kiss. It was certainly a treat for Chitra Chechi and her troupe to be entertained as such. But, it was an even greater treat for those children to be able to have this opportunity to entertain one who has entertained millions.

Now it was the day of the event, Saturday, October 10th. The day began as any other Saturday. Prayers had begun in the morning to seek God’s will on that day. Preparations were ongoing. The stage was still being prepared, Sound, light, and event grounds preparations were ongoing; volunteers were being rounded up; so many came; teams from all over Bangalore were doing their part to add the final touches to the months of preparation. Even the skies looked down on us with bated breath. There were some dark clouds, but maybe they gathered around to see just what was going on in the Snehadaan Campus. As evening approached, the skies applauded our effort with thunder and lightning, but not a drop of rain fell on the ground that day.

By early evening, the crowds started to pour in. The energy level in the campus by evening was exceedingly high. Chairs were being wiped down, even as the patrons were starting to fill them. Sound and light testing was ongoing. The artistes were coming in for final sound checks, then they briefly disappeared to get ready for the event. The food stalls were revving up their cooking ranges, microwave ovens, and pizza ovens. It was quite an assortment of cuisine that was offered. Everything from street food of Kerala, wraps, rolls and kebabs, pizzas, delicate assortments of pastries, assorted hot and cold beverages. The evening air was filled with the aromas of all of these cuisines blended together. There was probably not a single soul there that evening who went away hungry or had not tried at least one of these delicious offerings.

As the evening went on, it was amusing and terrifying at the same time to observe the numbers of people that were showing up. We had severely underestimated the number that would show up. While we based this on ticket sales to be around 2000, over 3200 folks actually turned up at the venue. It was no mean feat that our wonderful restaurateurs were able to come up with innovative ways to feed all of our patrons.

It was time for the main event of the evening, and Padmashree K.S. Chitra and team made a grand entry, causing a stir among our kids and audience. Sneham 2015 was then inaugurated with elegant lighting of the lamp ceremony by all the eminent guests (names TBD). Fr. Baby Ellickal, president of Sneha Charitable Trust, delivered a thought provoking and warm welcome address. The proceedings were then handed over to the master of ceremonies for the evening, Ivy Thomas, who then got the audience all excited and in the mood for the grand evening. The concert then started in earnest with Padmashri K. S. Chitra invoking the presence of the almighty with a Malayalam song pidalam yeshuve. There was no question at that moment in anyone’s mind of exactly why Chitra Chechi was such an accomplished singer and star. The air was reverberating with delicate notes of her song, gathering all the thoughts of all gathered there in that trance that was an offering to the almighty one. She was followed by Roopa Revathi who took over with a famous Tamil song minnisara kanna, astounding the audience with her unique vocal range with a powerful performance. Najim Arshad captivated the audience with one of his favourite Malayalam songs Dil Rooba, which got the tempo rising further. The next performance was truly a sight to behold. Noufel Rehaman took the crowd to the next level with his electrifying dance moves and energy. Now the crowd was truly on their feet dancing and swaying, trying to beat Noufel at his own game, which was precisely what he wanted.

The troupe continued on, taking turns, singing out popular numbers loved by one and all. About half way through the programs, the children of Sneha Charitable Trust were able to showcase their talents and had the performers and crowd fascinated with their dancing, energy and joy. Not one in that crowd could deny the genuine gratitude that these children felt at this outpouring of love towards them that evening. Chitra Chechi and her troupe continued again with many more popular songs from the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s – a multilingual musical journey through time – which the audience thoroughly enjoyed. Fr. Biju Mathew, Director of Snehadaan, came in towards the end of the show to offer his gratitude towards all those that had contributed to the success of that evening. The evening was still not over. Chitra Chechi and team took everyone by surprise and sang more songs, that too by audience request with a grand finale that was a medley of 13 songs that left the crowd spellbound.

As most good things go, this good evening and day too had to come to an end. It was with feelings of elation and contentment that we said goodbye to Chitra Chechi and team that evening. If there was a message for us that evening it certainly was this – from the least participant to the biggest star of the evening, one thing and one thing only had brought all of us together and had been our motivation for that evening. It was for something that was greater than us. There was nothing on anyone’s mind to seek anything for their own selves that evening. All were there for love, for the love of doing good for the children and destitute of Sheha Charitable Trust.

Sneham 2015 has been an incredible journey for all of us at Snehadan and we are overwhelmed and humbled by the outpouring of love and support from so many of you. This has inspired us to dream bigger. When the love of God and neighbour are as we have seen in this event, there is probably nothing we cannot accomplish, so long as it continues to be done for that which is greater then us. We look forward to your support, to your ideas, to your innovation and creative thinking in making this shared dream a continued reality.