On Thursday, September 13, my husband and I went to the first ever Indian and American Achievement Awards program held at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The organizer, Cinemaya Media Group, will have to rethink this event if they hope to host a second Indian and American Achievement Awards program. The fault was not the performers – heavy hitters such as dancer Birju Maharaj, santoor maestro Shiv Kumar Sharma, singers Ajoy Chakraborty and M. Balamuralikrishna, and – as a late addition to the program – A.R. Rahman, with his hair cut short. You may see a Flash presentation of pictures from the event at Cinemaya Media Group's web site - a better view than what we had, since we had balcony seats!
Ambassador Ronen Sen introduced the program, but as he went through the list of performers on the program, his speech became increasingly halted. Awards presentations were alternated with performances lasting 30-40 minutes apiece. When it was announced that A.R. Rahman was one of the nominees for an award in media, arts, and entertainment, it was a foregone conclusion whom the awardee would be. He was one of the few awardees to receive his award in person.
A large venue such as the Kennedy Center Concert Hall is not amenable to Indian music, which had been traditionally performed in courts and music rooms. We would have liked to see Birju Maharaj and his female partner perform an extended dance. My husband said that the sound system was not properly adjusted during the segment featuring Ajoy Chakraborty and M. Balamuralikrishna: indeed, I heard the rhythm-perfect interplay between M. Balamuralikrishna’s south Indian mridangam player and Ajoy Chakraborty’s tabla player very clearly, but not the vocal interplay between the two singers.
Most of the audience (the hall was only half full) left after Ajoy Chakraborty and M. Balamuralikrishna’s performance and did not stay for the last award presentation. At best, the first ever Indian and American Achievement Awards program was a qualified success. If the organizers hope to host a second Indian and American Achievement Awards program, I recommend that they choose a smaller, more intimate venue (I like Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University) and present the awards at the beginning of the program so that all the audience can be on hand. Then the audience and awardees can relax and enjoy the performance.
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