MUSICAL TRIBUTE

One of the highlights of the 149th Gandhi Jayanti celebrations in the capital last month was a five-minute fusion video featuring 40 artists from 124 countries singing Gandhiji’s favourite bhajan Vaishnava jan to. The video, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now gets a sequel. The external affairs ministry plans to invite all 40 artists as state guests for the 70th Republic Day parade in New Delhi in January. The artists are from countries as diverse as Sri Lanka, Laos, Oman, Azerbaijan, Iraq, China, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the Maldives, Nepal, Portugal, Finland, Cuba and Russia. This line-up should be an event in itself.