What better way to woo pravasis than with music? That, too, of the vintage kind? For all the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) likely to assemble for the biggest-ever convention of pravasis under one roof, the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Doordarshan are teaming up to offer exactly the same.On sale will be rare CDs of Thumris, Dadra and Ghazals rendered by Begum Akhtar (all live concerts by her) and compilation of Sufiana Qawwalis by the Sabri Brothers, Jaffar Hussain Qawwal, Shankar Shambhu, Warsi Qawwal and others. VCDs of Sitara Devi, Gopi Krishna, Durga Lal, Birju Maharaj, Shovana Narain and Saswati Sen will also be up for sale.The audio cassettes and VCDs have been produced by Doordarshan after a joint venture with Music Today came unstuck at negotiation stage. DD then decided to go in for a joint venture with ICCR.The recordings, retrieved from the archives of various relay kendras, will be for sale to NRIs only. Doordarshan is planning to book a stall where 100 years of recorded music will also be on display.The public broadcaster plans to peg the price of CDs at Rs 199 and the VCDs at Rs 300. The proceeds of the sale will be shared between Doordarshan and ICCR. ‘‘We are banking on the ICCR for its networking skill to help boost our sales,’’ DD officials said.In fact, the Pravasi Diwas has come at an appropriate time for DD, which is also celebrating 100 years of recorded music this year. The vintage collection gleaned from various regional kendras goes back to the turn of the last century when artists such as Gauhar Jan lent their voice to the Gramaphone company.
