Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 29: The UK based Friends of India Society International (FISI), an organization engaged in strengthening India-UK relations, is organizing a quarterly series of events called “Bharat Parv” across the year lined along the major rivers of India namely Ganga, Narmada, Brahmaputra and Kaveri.
A few days back the regional influence of river ‘Ganga’ was explored that included states of Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi.
There were three pre-recorded video participations from Jammu and Ladakh. Sherine Fatima Balti and Jigmat Nontsay represented Ladakh singing in Balti and Ladakhi respectively. Jammu was represented by Subhash Brahmanu ji and party who sang a lilting Dogri folk Baakh song. The yearning for Jammu city for someone living abroad was beautifully captured by a song sung by a member from the Dogra community in London Tavishi Puri Kamdar. The song has been written by her father Dr Vijay Puri, a Jammu resident.
Additionally, Roohi and Juhi Singh and Sars Bharti had made promotional videos for Bharat Parv. All the artists and musical presentations from Jammu Region were very well received by the British Indian diaspora, many of whom were listening to Dogri for the first time.
Abhishek Khajuria, a Dogra living in UK and part of Voice of Dogras community organization made a presentation and spoke about how the community connects in foreign lands and yet remains rooted to their Dogra culture and people back home. Abhishek Khajuria originally hailing from Samba district described the work done by Voice of Dogras in UK.
Manu Khajuria, FISI general secretary and founder director of Voice of Dogras said the idea of year-long Bharat Parv was to bring the vibrant British Indian diaspora on a singular platform. She added that being a Dogra from Jammu region it was a moment of pride to see Jammu and its unique culture and artists being introduced to the British Indian diaspora. She said that it is also important to remember that geographical location is not a limitation in being ambassadors of Dogra culture.
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