Planeteers of the Brahmand !!

They call themselves the 'planeteers' of the Brahmand Academy based out of Panchkula town in Haryana, near Chandigarh. The performances of the academy trained children and grown-ups always carry a social message. On Saturday (April 15) they regaled the audience at the open air Yavanika Theatre in support of “Clean and Green India”.

They look to encourage pure music as food for a healthy mind. There is always a social message in whatever they do. They are the ‘planeteers’ (members) of the professional music training academy Brahmand run by a lawyer turned musician with a meaning Dheeraj Kumar.

On Saturday (April 15), school children and grown-ups trained by the Academy entertained the audiences to a variety of band and other musical performances at the open air Yavanika Theatre. There were also a couple of special performances by the “Question Mark Squad”, who were the first runners up in the 2015 edition of the programme “Dance Plus” on entertainment TV channel Star Plus, and Poornima Sukant, one of the three finalists in the 2010 edition of “India’s Got Talent” on entertainment TV channel Colors.

Sharing his thoughts with lifeinchandigarh.com, Dheeraj Kumar says “though I run a professional music academy and teach children and grown-ups the nuances of guitar and keyboard, mostly on one-on-one basis, the purpose of these events is purely to give a platform to local talent to showcase themselves in public and in the process also convey a meaningful social message. We also encourage our trainees, who gradually become akin to our family members, to celebrate important occasions in their lives in a more meaningful manner by sharing such moments with underprivileged sections of society.

“We are seeing more and more local bands confining themselves to performances in clubs and private functions. The authorities invite outside bands for an odd big event they organise during the year. So we thought why not groom local talent and provide them a platform to experiment and excel.

“We have organised 15-16 performances so far at various places during the last 3 years. There are challenges aplenty. The foremost is getting sponsors for such shows. So far, it’s been more or less a one-man show when it comes to organising these events. Friends have been assisting here and there. But this time around I have been joined in the effort by ‘The Bikers Squad’, who are a group of about 35 socially responsible bikers. We have decided to work closely in future,” he gushes enthusiastically.

“We are gearing up to take our message to more and more people, for which we will soon be launching a refreshed website and show our presence on various social media platforms,” Dheeraj signs off with determination reflecting in his eyes.