This 10-city music extravaganza for a social cause will see a performance by rock band Parikrama tomorrow in the city. Funds will be raised for the Robin Hood Community
One third of the world’s hungry apparently live in India and several socially conscious musicians are trying to change that. A Few Good Musicians – Play for a Cause is a 10-city music fest that is all set to see celebrated artistes like Bruce Lee Mani, Ehsaan Noorani, Parikrama, Luke Kenny, Suraj Jagan, Soulmate and Shilpa Rao amongst others, take to their voices and instruments to dedicate meals for the underprivileged across the country. Their touchdown in Bengaluru will see Parikrama perform on October 30.
Every year, the Delhi rock n’ rollers, Parikrama celebrate their band turning a year older with a bang. “We were on a 15-city tour to celebrate turning 23 last year, when Play for a Cause was introduced,” says the band’s keyboardist, synthesiser and the driving force, Subir Malik. After massive support shown by several musicians last year, helping rehabilitate homes destroyed by the earthquake in Nepal, this year will see them associate with the Robin Hood Army, a growing community that sources surplus food from eateries and makes it available to those less fortunate across the country.
“It’s not about what cause it is, as much as it is anything that helps make a difference to someone who is need of it. Even as a family, when we go out and there’s food left over, we make sure to pack it and give it away at the traffic lights,” says Subir about the 100 Pipers initiative that will also auction autographed Fender guitars to help raise money. These musicians are doing that extra bit to tackle hunger as a priority.
“When there’s food on the table whenever we want, it’s very easy to take it for granted. The hunger we are talking about is not the hunger you feel when you skip a few meals or go on a diet – this is the one where you barely get a meal a day or go hungry because you don’t have a choice and that’s the hunger that eventually kills… If staying alive is not a priority, I don’t know what is,” says Give Me Some Sunshine singer Suraj Jagan, who is thrilled to be able to contribute to change through his music.
Be it an art show, a dance-off, a marathon or a music concert, the arts have always been an engaging medium to raise awareness and get people to go that extra mile to pitch in. Music specifically, helps in bringing people from all walks of life together under one roof. Dedicated towards underprivileged homes in India, the tour will see some of India’s celebrated band members perform – Rudy Wallang and Tipriti Kharbangar from Soulmate, K Mohan and Koco from Agnee and Thermal and a Quarter’s Bruce Lee Mani to name a few. “As TAAQ, we’ve supported many socially relevant causes – everything from getting young people to vote, to fighting corruption and more. There’s no doubt that music can make social impact,” says Bruce, gearing up for the event at blueFROG. So, what the legendary movie, School of Rock drummed into our TV sets was in fact true – One great rock show can, in fact change the world in little ways.
