Students perform during Jhankar Beats. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Oct. 28: Entertainment proved to be the pervasive theme at Jhankar Beats, a musical rendezvous in the city today, as the show raised a toast to a fusion of eastern and western tunes and beats.

Organised by the interact club of Jamshedpur Public School, students from a number of schools in the city thronged the daylong musical extravaganza crooning to beats of the tabla and the drums, all in the same breath.

As tunes like Albela Sajan and Come Back Jesus reverberated across the Michael John auditorium this evening participants from five schools in the city put up a splendid performance of their musical genius mixing and matching to perfection Indian classical tunes with hardrock western beats.

?We were bored with the routine musical programmes, which were more run-of-the-mill stuff. So we thought of this unique concept where students would not only get a chance to display their musical styles but also an in-depth knowledge about two different genres of music,? said Sailesh Suman, a student of Jamshedpur Public School, whose rendition of a popular Indian classical number simply mesmerised the audience.

His ideas were echoed by Lalita Sareen, the principal of the host school.

?We wanted students to explore the world of music and learn properly the nuances of music instead of merely copying some popular tunes. So the move from eastern music to its western counterpart tested their knowledge to the core,? she summed up the essence of the show.

And for the students who took to the stage, it was indeed a test of days of hard work put in to master the blend the two forms of music.

?It?s a concept, which is different from other musical competitions. We really worked hard to pick up the nitty-gritty, which we otherwise choose to skip. This entire episode is a learning experience and we are happy about it,? one of the contestants, waiting in anticipation for the final results, said.

Like the show, the panel of judges too comprised men from all walks of life. P. Mohan, a doctor with MGM Medical College and Hospital, Amit Mukherjee, another doctor with Tinplate Hospital and Navneeta Dutta, were the judges.

Students from Narbheram Hansraj English School walked away with the glories at the end of the show while the host school came a close second.