First Ever Open Mic in Ludhiana: Talent at its Best

Ludhiana: Live music, soulful poetry, standup comedy and a lively audience, all at one platform, can go a long way in making a Friday night seem like a splendid way to start the weekend, and that's what happened at the first ever Open Mic Night at Bistro 226. Open Mic is an event typically focused on performance arts like poetry and the spoken word, music, and comedy. Open Mic, a concept very popular in places like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chandigarh is eventually new to Ludhiana, a home to a lot of creative minds.
The Open Mic witnessed fresh, raw, aspiring poets, standup comedians and music bands honing their talent at the stage. An amalgamation of impromptu performances and professional performers added colours to the event. Some were great, some were scared to be performing for the first time, but visit an open-mic night definitely helped spot the household names of tomorrow.
Swastika Khosla, a Dubai based ESL teacher, who brought the concept to Ludhiana in collaboration with Bistro 226 had been aspiring for long to organize an Open Mic in her hometown which would bring talent from various walks of life together. Bistro 226 provided a platform as it had already been organizing Open Mics for music bands. She said “ Participating in Open Mic Poetry Slams in Dubai intrigued my desire to see it happening in my hometown as well and nothing could be better than getting a pre set stage in my hometown. I created a Facebook event and the response was baffling, both in terms of the audience and the participants. I myself recited a self composed poem today and it was refreshing to see the audience appreciate and acknowledge”
Josh, another participant said " It was a wonderful ambience and performers had complete creative freedom to test their content, unlike corporate events where every minute counts and little scope for error or experimentation.”
It all started from a casual update by Swastika on Facebook which received a good response. Once an event page was created, creative minds from all walks of life stepped in to make the event a success. The highlight of the event was a band of doctors from CMC. Their band named 'Five Years a Slave" added spark to the event.
Event Details: Open Mic was held on July 1 at Bistro 226 from 8 pm to 10.30 pm.