Musical icon Mungal Patasar recently got a huge surprise when his family urged him to attend a meeting at the NCIC Nagar that turned out to be a big celebration of his 70th birthday.
He was indeed shocked to see about 100 friends, family and musical peers who turned up to wish him well. The event featured performances by Mondira Balkaransingh, Vidya Aguilar, Doon Ramsundar, Nazeena Ali-Hosein, Rooplal Girdharie, Purwa Joshi, Rakesh Yankaran, Dr Sat Balkaransingh and of course, Patasar’s children Prashant, Sharda and Amrita.
Long-time friend Hans Hanoomansingh paid tribute in a speech that recounted some of the key events of Patasar’s life. He spoke of the five-year studying stint in India, and how the sitarist took his wife Roshni to Agra and composed a song: “I do not have the resources of Shah Jahan and therefore cannot build you a Taj Mahal but my love for you exceeds Shah Jahan’s love for Mumtaz Mahal.”
Nephew Shiva Hardeo said his uncle didn’t have a clue, but was a bit suspicious when his daughter Amrita started looking for the sitar she had not played in ages.