On March 23rd, Saturday night transformed the Morse Auditorium at Boston University into English Vinglish. A Cappella at it best.  Sa Re Ga Ma Pella, an a cappella showcase originally started by University of Michigan’s Maize Mirchi, asked Boston University’s a cappella group “Suno” to host this year’s event and it showcased musical talent from around the country.

Sameer Farooq the MC welcomed all and set the tone for a humorous and fun evening with his stand up comic repertoire.

Maize Mirchi, University of Michigan, started the show with foot stomping numbers such as “The one that got away / Pyaar ke pal” “Please don’t go / Jadoo pehli nazar” and “Beautiful soul / Pee loon”.  Solo singers like Nishita Conjeevaram, Sudarshan Sivaramakrishnan, Vishrut Srivastava, and Deepak Kumar set the tone for a wonderful evening.

The next group Rutgers University Raag’s rendering of numbers like “You and I / Doop ke makaas” “Settle down / Agar main kahoon” and “Killing me softly / Aap ki”. The voices of their soloists Amala Narayan, Rishi Narayan, Ashwini Dhokte, Anita Thomas and Ruchika Devalpalli blended so well with the rest of the group.

After a brief intermission Yale’s “Sur et Veritaal” turned the hall into a  dance party with their rendering of “Turning tables / Alvida” “Barso re” “Ghanana / Chaiyya chaiyya / Hips don’t lie” with practically everyone in the group doing a solo. Shunori Ramanathan, Vijay Narayan, Shivani Bhatt, Nitika Kaitan, Isra Syed, Sandeep Peddada, Lauren Bonomo, Vivek Vishwanth, Anuj Daga, Meiryum Ali, Amy Ho and Marios Falaris all rocked.

The evening ended with the host group from Boston University “Suno” with renderings of “Wild ones / Subha hone ne de” “Piya o re piya / Hey soul sister” “As long as you love me / love me like a love song”. Soloists included Rakhi Desai, Rishi Jolly, Anupriya Nagarathna, Rasika Murali, Dhiren Garg, Faisal Haider, Sid Bhatia, and Christina Abraham.

This was definitely a “Not to be missed evening”, the talent, enthusiasm and the camaraderie made the evening very memorable.

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