The glimmering Reunion of poetry, soft music and rapping.

Since the second wave peaked in our country, the majority of artists have been meeting virtually, for every rhyme and reason. Rhyme, because it is the medium of choice for these aspiring artists and singers. Reason, because it helps them cope, share thoughts, speak out or just showcase their talent, especially during the pandemic. It was so hard for the artists to reach out to the audience during the lockdown to showcase their talent. 

"The times have been challenging since the past couple of months. These times, they have struck us down with depression, isolation, anxiety, loneliness and what not. But now that the dark days are behind us even if for a fine moment, this moment demanded a ‘Reunion’ of the talented individuals that this city possesses' ' says Amaan Khan, a veteran and retired (for now) rapper himself and the founder of FEAR records. 

Delicious food, amazing ambiance

Say restaurants, eating houses, and one could imagine a group of people enjoying their fast food, teenagers laughing out loud discussing their experiences. But of late, this eating house known as Hotspot has been buzzing and humming with diverse voices of the young artists of Bhopal. 

Melody all around 

The show kicked off with a melodious performance by one of the most amazing aspiring artists of Bhopal, Aman Soni who presented the softer side of music with slow romantic songs. His performance was followed up by Sufi music which was presented by Abuzar Khan who was accompanied by Mustufa on guitar. The singing category was further complemented by the voices of Ayush Bhardwaj and Aditya Bagul. As for the category of rap, the culture was well presented by two members of a new and coming group called Midzone mafia, the members, namely Amari and Aseem Sahil. The category of poetry was represented by one of the finest groups of Urdu Poetesses called the Khan sisters and the band Aaftaab presented the fine amalgamation of rock and bollywood music in their performance which was the showstopper of the evening.

Here comes the highlight

When we think of creating and managing an event, it takes a lot of preparation and planning to execute it and make it a  glorious event. However, the team of FEAR Records and Bhopal Ki Baatein pulled this impossible task off in just a span of a few hours. The event was planned, organized, promoted, implemented and executed in less than 13 hours by the team. There were ‘n’ number of challenges which were tackled by the team efficiently and pristinely. These challenges were taken as dares by the event managers of “The Reunion”. It's not about how quickly these things got grips with but it was the hard work and dedication of the team to bring in some of the finest artists on stage after a long and depressing period of lockdown and show this city the best of the best talents they have around them. As you know that putting together an event is not easy. Planning the event, managing the venue, marketing the event, contacting and bringing in the finest artists, handling the logistics like invoicing, sound system on place. The amount of stress and struggle that is involved can be backbreaking. Nevertheless, FEAR records and Bhopal Ki Baatein made this event triumphant, as if it was a piece of cake for them. And well said by Benjamin Mee 'Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of embarrassing bravery and I promise you something great will do it'. They had high dedication and courage to bring in one of the best artists of Bhopal on stage. There is a very little difference between a winner and a loser; Losers have always excuses for not making it up and winners always outshine their win with flying colors without having a single excuse. FEAR records and Bhopal Ki Baatein were the ultimate winners along with all the artists who came up on stage, took time and courage to be on-stage. No artist, No manager, No event organizer had a single excuse or a criticism or a grievance behind the dynamic open mic event. 

Amaan Khan and Muzaffar Khan achieved a huge response, respect and trust from the artists and their audience. As it is known to us that performance is knowledge in action, there really is no substitute, hence artists took this opportunity earnestly and they took huge steps into advancing this event. A great performance doesn’t need to be a ticketed event with artists stepping out on stage to a large crowd of adoring fans. Sometimes, there could be many informal opportunities for artists to perform, and The Reunion, open mic session was one of them. The event finished by 10, but it didn't really stop there - and it will soon be time to be thinking about organizing the next one. 

Written By Zehra Ibrahim

Chief Editor- Sharbani Banerjee