SHILLONG: Governor Tathagata Roy on Friday gave away the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2017, at a function held at the U Soso Tham auditorium.
The award ceremony was held alongside the Festival of Music, Dance and Drama organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with the Directorate of Arts and Culture, Meghalaya.
Altogether 32 awardees were felicitated in recognition of their prowess in the field of music, dance and drama.
Speaking on the occasion, Roy congratulated all the awardees and said that art is a celebration of the universal spirit of India.
With 60 per cent of the population of the county falling under 35 years of age, the governor said “India is a young nation and the youth are indeed the assets of the nation.”
He expressed hope that the recognition given to the awardees will inspire them to work harder and strive for excellence.
While congratulating the Sangeet Natak Akademi for promoting the arts across the country, he urged the awardees to also take their talents further by way of sharing their skills and knowledge with the next generation, so that the rich traditions of India live on forever.
Roy also paid tribute to Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan, who brought the limelight on the Shehnai thought his magnetic performances.
Chairman of Sangeet Natak Academy, Shekhar Sen, Director of Arts and Culture, M. War Nongbri, along with a host of invitees were also present at the programme.
The award ceremony was followed by performances from some of the awardees: Sawani Shende – Hindustani Vocal Music, Prasanna Venkatraman – Carnatic Vocal Music with Trivandrum N. Sampath in the Violin, Rimpa Siva – Hindustani Instrumental Music (tabla), Bhavana Reddy – Kuchipudi and Vidha Lala – Kathak.
It may be mentioned that the five-day festival will conclude on September 18.
