National anthem row: Thane residents to celebrate mothers and Mother India through concert

Amid divided opinion over the Supreme Court's decision mandating that the national anthem be played before all movie screenings, Thane’s PTRA (Progressive Thane Residents Association) has organised a unique 'Maa Tujhe Salaam' program this weekend. The program will have songs dedicated to mothers in different regional languages, with the underlying thrust being that honouring one's mother is akin to honouring the motherland. 

The program will be held on December 18 at 5 pm at Vasant Vihar club, Thane west. “We saw the recent debate on whether citizens should be forced to stand up for the national anthem or not. Hence, we thought why not have a program dedicated to mothers. If we salute our mothers, then we salute our motherland, Mother India,” says K Kumar, chairman, PTRA.
 
The concert will have songs dedicated to mothers, interspersed with patriotic songs in five languages - Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. There will also be audio visuals and dance presentations on some songs. “The tone of songs is such that they will touch everyone's heart, no matter what language it is in,” he says. The songs will be sung by budding artists from Thane and Mumbai.
 
An audience of over 1000 is expected to attend the program along with the political bigwigs of the city. “Unfortunately, we have to hold the big program in our club house as Kashinath Ghanekar auditorium is closed for repairs since April,” says Lahoo Nayak, a senior citizen and a member of Vasant Vihar Sanman Mitra Mandal.