Music in the Mountains


Kasauli is just perfect for this time of the year. A little more than 250 km from the Capital, the quaint hill station is the favourite weekend getaway for many in North India. Come April, music will form the backdrop of this misty mountainscape. Kasauli is going to be the venue for the first-of-its-kind Rhythm & Blues Festival, a two-day musical extravaganza being organised by Genesis Foundation as a fund-raiser for critically ill children. To be held on the weekend of April 6-7, the event will feature some of India’s most popular artistes and bands, including the Raghu Dixit Project, Parikrama
Unplugged, Advaita, Shaa’ir n Func, Sonam Kalra, Adil and Vasundhra, Pragnya Wakhlu, Kasauli’s very own Abzoluts (the Sanawar School Band) and some solo singers.
“The festival is for a cause, to save the lives of underprivileged children, who otherwise have no options for survival. Every rupee goes on to save a child,” says Prema Sagar, Founding Trustee of the foundation.
The festival will be a mix of R&B, Sufi, jazz and soul. Six months down the line, Sagar also plans to start a similar festival in Lonavala, near Mumbai, and make festivals at both the destinations, Kasauli and Lonavala, an annual feature. With Baikunth resorts as the destination for the festival, the organisers are looking at a crowd of 400.
Donor passes are priced at Rs 5,000 each. For info, log on to www.genesis-foundation.net