It was a cold winter night of Friday, just two days before Christmas- under the bare sky. But it did not feel that cold as about 20,000+strong massive gathering waited eagerly. And then all of a sudden the dark sky-scape of Agartala over got illuminated. Up above the Swami Vivekananda maidan colourful lights started appearing-and creating amazing spectacles –maps of India, Tripura , Tripurasundari temple, Yogasana, etc Those were all drones show ran by IIT Delhi. It was a brilliant display and as the drones kept on flying radiant maps and designs at will the mammoth crowd got glued at the night sky- till they slowly disappeared. This was the first ever drone in Tripura as part of the cultural extravaganza organized by the ICA as part of ‘Khelo Tripura Sustha Tripura’ programmes.
The drone show was, however, not the end. It was just the beginning of the fantastic Friday night. Soon appeared on the stage for whom the 20,000 plus people were actually waiting – Sonu Nigam, the singer amidst thunderous applause. Dressed in Michael Jackson like black attire and sporting like him long hair Sonu Nigam for the next two hours just set the entire ambience on fire. The mammoth gathering kept screaming and dancing as Sonu Nigam performed. He sang one after another popular songs and the audience swayed with him. And who were the amongst the audience – the answer should be who were not ? Right from Chief Minister dr Manik Saha, Deputy chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, ICA Minister Sushanta Chowdhury, Chief Secretary JK Sinha, to all important personalities of the state –along with youths of all age groups.
The Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and ICA minister also took to stage at a point of time to felicitate the visiting singer.
All these were part of Khelo Tripura Sustha Tripura’ launched by the state government to combat the emerging drugs menace in the state. Earlier on the day a colourful rally was organized and also were organized various sports events . The message of the Fantastic Friday was simple : Pick up sports and cultural activities and fight the drugs. It was a great initiative- a mixture of pre Christmas celebrations and cultural event with a message and definitely wholly successful an event.
