Staff Reporter, Dhaka : It was a nice and busy noon at Mohakhali BRAC University premises. Students were strolling around and crossing road for attending classes. Meanwhile people of that area were going to their respective destinations. But something was cooking inside the university, which ultimately compelled everyone to stop and behold in dazzling eyes. From the cover of pink, yellow and green fog emerged a dance group with traditional attire and a flash mob was performed by Prantik Deb and his team at its premises, lighting up ‘BRAC Hope Festival 2023’.
The other two flash mobs will take place on the North South University campus on 26 January (Thursday) at 12 noon and at the Aarong flagship store in Tejgaon on 3 February (Friday) at 5 pm.
All the three flash mobs have been composed and choreographed following the theme song BRAC has launched marking BRAC’s 50 years of igniting hope. The theme song, performed by renowned artists from Bangladesh, illustrates BRAC’s 50 years of partnership with over 100 million of people living with inequality and poverty to create opportunities to realise human potential. The song is available on Youtube at this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sih7Og4-30
Prantik Deb, student of Department of Drama & Dramatics, Jahangirnagar University, is a specialist on Bharatanatyam. He started learning Bharatanatyam from Anisul Islam Hero, Director, Srishti Cultural Centre, since 2014. Alongside he also learned from renowned dance masters like Indian Leela Samson, C. V. Chandrasekhar, and Rajdeep Banerjee. Besides Bangladesh he has performed in India, Nepal, Russia, China, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.
BRAC Hope Festival aims at igniting hope and inspiration among the young generation of Bangladesh. With this spirit each of the day is designed with programmes and performances with a particular theme. “A tribute to Bangladesh”, “Power of potential”, and “Building a world we want” will be the themes for the first, second, and third day respectively. Education, economic empowerment, gender equality, climate change, and mental health are the key focus areas of all the programmes, sessions, and performances in this festival.
Hope Festival will open with the national anthem at 5 pm on 9 February with the theme “A tribute to Bangladesh”. It will be followed by a documentary on the life of BRAC founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. BRAC executive director Asif Saleh will give the welcome speech after which the main programme segments will begin. Tamara Hasan Abed, managing director, BRAC Enterprises, will speak at the main session on the second day.
The ecosystem of BRAC brand will be presented through a series of installations and programmes, which will demonstrate the multifaceted social development programmes, social enterprises, university, and investments operated under its umbrella.
Bkash, BRAC Bank, IPDC Finance, and BRAC University are the proud partners of the Hope Festival.