Elita Garden Vista
The government’s announcement to cancel all cultural events did not deter the residents of Elita Garden Vista (EGV). They decided to record their performances in advance and show it on a giant screen.
“The performers were practising for more than a month. We could not back out,” said Payel Basu, joint vice-president, EGV cultural association. Those who would miss the screening would see the show on the complex’s YouTube channel.
The performances were recorded in our audio visual room equipped with camera and lights. For the organisers, the challenges were giving event-wise recording slots to dance, poetry, singing and drama, and ensuring that the recording finished on time.
“The experience was like shooting a television show. My sons, aged three and 11 years, were initially nervous, but were screaming from the balcony when their performance was being screened,” said Pinky Chakrabarty. “I was disappointed not to be able to perform live but then I got excited to see the lights and the camera. My nervousness went as I remembered the steps,” said Aahan Gupta, 10, who danced to Jai Jai Durga Ma.
With 60 recordings, the next challenge was scheduling them all on the giant screen. “The recordings were e-mailed to me. It was quite a task informing each participant about the time of his screening,” said Basu.
The residents enjoyed watching the performances. “This was my first puja here. I watched some of the performances on the screen and will catch the rest on YouTube. It was wonderful to see how it was organised,” said Anuragini Singh, who moved in in March.
“When I shifted to EGV, the puja was on a small scale as residents were few. I remember counting 40 cars in the parking lot. The number has multiplied over the years,” said Amlendu Kumar, the first president of the association.
