By V.N. Prasad

City’s Dr. Somanath Vasudeva and Dr. Seethalakshmi Somanath are a couple blessed with not only good voice quality but also passion for performing on big stages. Having known the couple since long, I have appreciated their desire to enhance singing skills through dedicated practice; all in spite of their own professional routines as medical doctors that are demanding. 

On Sunday, the 20th of October, the couple rendered the music programme titled Gaata Rahe Mera Dil at Rani Bahadur Auditorium, Manasagangothri, Mysuru, to a packed and overflowing audience.

The Karaoke programme consisted of solos and duets of the legendary Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. In all, 22 numbers were rendered by the doctor couple.

The concert commenced with the title song “Gaata Rahe Mera Dil…” from the film Guide — story scripted by our own R.K. Narayan.

Both the doctors expressed gratitude to Dr. C. Umesh Kamath and Dr. M. Jagannath Shenoy for their debut in “Geeth Gaatha Chal” — both the art promoters were present.

Making an important announcement, Dr. Kamath invited Dr. Somanath to take over as the Chairman of Geeth Gaatha Chal (GGC) from 2025 onwards with the full support from him and the team. The annual GGC music programme by doctors is sponsored by Dr. Shenoy. Dr. Somanath accepted the responsibility on the spot.

The musical nite was compered by Syed Aftab Ahmad, the popular personality, in his own inimitable style end verve. He kept the audience busy with interesting questions between the songs — all relevant to the movies, composers, situations etc. And, the response from the audience were quick and accurate.

LED coverage of the songs was well-coordinated to add to the mood of the audience. So was the sound system; pleasantly monitored.