Pragati Resort comes alive to Sufi Mania

Hyderabad, December 19, 2016: Palm tree groove besides the blue lagoon with simmering radiance on a moon-lit night with occasional gentle breeze nudging the gathering to moments of ecstasy complimented the charm of enamoring Sufi numbers at a grand musical evening at Pragati Resort.

A three day ‘Principal’s knowledge sharing’ program organized by ICFAI- IBS concluded recently at Pragati Resort. Principals from 46 under graduate colleges across the country participated in it. A grand Sufi musical evening held at the Roman Dias besides the Pragati Resort’s swimming pool on the day two of the program made a perfect setting for the event.

Pragati Resort came alive to the tune of “ Teri Kali Ankhiyon se jind meri jage, dhadkan se tez doudu sapno se age…”, the famous Rahat Fateh Ali number sung on a high octave by the artist for the evening Merraj Sufi. The perfect mudkis and khatkas of Merraj on the rhythm of tabla artist Sardar along with Ustad Shameem Ahmed Khan’s magical fingers creating a symphony of sorts on the harmonium enthralled the select gathering.

The lilting pain of estrangement from your beloved came to fore when Merraj sang “Lambi Judai, Bichhde Abhi To Ham Bas Kal Parso..” the hit Reshma number. The gathering in rapt attention rubbing their wet eyes, holding hard to their seats, saw their hearts out in deep agony. That is the power of music. Merraj made a befitting end to the programme with “Dama dam mast kalandar…” the all time Runa Laila number.

Many of the participating principals also offered their renditions in between the musical fiesta. The Sufi concert was presented by the troupe of Heera Babu as per the music direction of music maestro Ustad Shameem Ahmed Khan. Merraj Sufi the star Sufi artist of the evening who has been giving public performances from the tender age of seven is a disciple of Abida Parveen and Reshma. She has done many stage shows with the likes of Anoop Jalota, Ahmed and Md Hussain and has bhajan albums to her credit.

R Raghunath Reddy, registrar ICFAI- IBS said, “It was an opportunity for networking and knowledge sharing among institutions and colleges across India and Pragati Resort turned out to be an excellent destination for rejuvenation of the body and mind for all the participants.” Dr Sivaram Kumar, principal, Apollo Engineering College Chennai one of the delegates to the program sharing his feedback said, “Stay at Pragati Resort was pleasant. The warm hospitality extended to us made us feel like second home coming.” Vinod Bala Sharma, director agriculture, J & K Govt complimenting Pragati Resort as a destination for the event said, “The pollution and mosquito free environment at Pragati with the aroma of herbal medicinal plants refreshed us.”

On day one and day two of the Principal’s knowledge sharing’ program organised by ICFAI- IBS at the Lotus Mahal auditorium of Pragati Resort had enriching sessions dwelling on demonetization, black market, soft skills beyond the classroom, taking the students beyond the curriculum to make them more profession oriented, pedagogy in technology teaching, working of the various ICFAI- IBS associations like literary association, commerce association besides a gamut of other areas. Sridhar Shetty one of the delegates said, “The academic sessions were appropriate and need of the hour. It was an invaluable platform to the principals pan India while some of whom were even from the non ICFAI colleges for interaction, exchange of thoughts, views and ideas among themselves.”

“ It was very useful to streamline the padegogy of online e learning, soft skill programme adopted by IBS, especially their thrust on case studies, case writing, overall good practices which groom the young talent to find a suitable job,” said J R Dhotra, director, Institute of Management Sciences, Jammu.

The ‘Principal’s knowledge sharing’ programme concluded on the third day with the principals visiting ICFAI-IBS campus close to Pragati Resort to get a first- hand experience of their teaching practices.