Its a good effort obviously, as we seldom have any concerts with performance reflecting the various groups. But I was curious why amidst the representatives from different communities, a leader from religious organisation was also garlanded. You have leaders from Sikh, Malayalee, Telugu and Ceylonese communities, and then there’s president of Malaysian Hindu Sangam.  Yes, Sikhs are based on religious categorisation as well, but I think nearly every Sikh is a Punjabi (maybe I’m wrong here). Wondering what happened to leader from Tamil community. Maybe can’t agree who to choose since got many splinters? But then, choosing a religious organisation leader is not the solution since you’ll then have to include leaders from other faiths like Bahaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam (since there are Indians following these faiths). I did ask the organiser but never got a reply. Anyway, that’s just me picking on the small points rather than looking at the bigger picture.

Interesting to note that the president of Barisan Bersatu Nambikei, Kalai Vanar was ex-PKR Jerai division head. He stood for Gurun state seat in 2008 elections but lost to BN candidate. He was (still is?) president of Alternative Action Group, another NGO. I remember him during the commotion when protesting at MPSJ regarding some housing project problem compensation (can search youtube).

 Since this group is interested to unite all the Indian community, why not we follow the association its  president and advisor of BBN. I’m sure they will be excellent role models for us. Here’s their twitter/FB accounts (do read all the interesting tweets they make)

BBN Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barisan-Bersatu-Nambikkai/441279205895158

Kalaivanar: https://twitter.com/kalaivanar

Ramesh Rao Krishna Naidu: https://twitter.com/RameshRaoAKN (and facebook at http://facebook.com/rameshrao.krishnannaidu)

 Most recently, BBN staged a protest along with other NGOs at the HQ of a political party over the cases where some teenagers stepped on PM photo and also some others carried a flag. Watch the video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEfV9B1cXBg).

So, why wait, do join them and proclaim that you are united!

GREETINGS of vanakkam, vanthanam, namashkaram and namastehrang through the hall as five distinguished personalities welcomed their guests at the “Nambikai Nam Nadu” musical extravaganza at the Malawati Satdium in Shah Alam recently.

It was historic of sorts as the musical night was the largest and first of its kind held to unite the major Indian ethnic groups in the country.

More than 50 well-known local Indian singers and musicians kept the night alive with five hours of non-stop music and songs from movies of the black-and-white era to current hits and various cultural dances that kept the audience spellbound until the show closed at midnight.

Organised by non-governmental body Barisan Bersatu Nambikei (BBN), it attracted about 20,000 people from the Sikh, Tamil, Ceylonese, Malayalee and Telugu community.

“The musical night is held for one reason, to unite the entire Indian community under one roof,” said BBN president Kalai Vanar.

Vanar added the “Unity Nite 2012” themed “In Our Country We Place Our Trust” was not all about a one-off gathering but with the objective to unite all the ethnic groups as Indians and not proclaim themselves as different Indian ethnic group.

Meanwhile BBN special adviser Ramesh Rao in his speech pointed out the importance of tolerance among the different groups in order to move forward and develop as the country progressed.

For those who missed out on the show, it was undoubtedly spectacular as the initiative taken by the organisers was commendable.

With a combination of songs, both old and new, the show encouraged the young to search for their roots with respect to music and art.

At the interlude of the musical night, five special guests — Gerak Sikh president Tan Sri G. Darshan Singh Gill, All-Malaysia Malayalee Association president Tan Sri Ravindran Menon, Persatuan Kebajikan & Kebudayaan Telugu president Datuk Dr Prakash Rao, Malaysian Ceylonese Congress president Datuk Dr NKS Tharmaseelan and Malaysia Hindu Sangam president S. Mohan Shan were each garlanded with the traditional Indian shawls as a mark of respect.

source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/9/4/central/11918070&sec=central