It was the 23rd of November, a wonderful Friday evening. Me and my friends, Rahul and Asel, arrived at Hamdhan’s place (a.k.a The Rotaract Achievers headquarters) along with the beverages that were assigned for us.
Hamdhan and Pruthuvi were already setting up the place to host the Karaoke Night organized by the Rotaract Club of Achievers Lanka Business School. Soon afterward, Hasitha arrived at the event and we finished up the setting in no time.
It didn’t take a long time for other members to arrive as well and I was asked to start off the proceedings. Actually, I started singing a random song which popped into my head and to see I was the person who officially started the night going. So, I gave the start to a wonderful evening by singing ‘Lassanata Pipunu Wana Mal’ by Nihal Nelson. After me, it was Asel’s turn to sing and he sang ‘All about the bass’ by Meghan Trainor. A lot of people willingly took turns to sing, but the Weather had something else in mind. The lightning and heavy rains caused the TV to switch off many times. In spite of the adverse weather, almost everyone volunteered to sing and we were extremely happy to see people enjoying the night.
I did mention that almost everyone volunteered. I said it that way because there were a few who did not want to sing. So Sahan and Yasiru forcefully dragged them into the center stage to sing. I should say that both of them sang well in the end. Almost all the songs sung before we had dinner were English classics and it was so nice to meet people who are still enthusiastic about those songs. Songs like ‘Wonderful Tonight’ by Eric Clapton, ‘Let it be’ and ‘Hey Jude’ by the Beatles, ‘Can you feel the love tonight’ by Elton John were most loved by the audience. The memory that I will never forget was how Sandaru and I sang ‘I don’t wanna miss a thing’ by Aerosmith which is almost impossible to be sung by a sane person. We managed to imitate the lead singer of Aerosmith at all times and right after the song I started feeling my throat as well. I’m sure Sandaru did as well.
After dinner, we switched to Sinhala songs. I remember singing ‘Nadee Ganga’ by Chitral Somapala twice. Both times we sang it together, everyone sang it with all their might. We also sang songs of artists like Kasun Kalhara and Clarence Wijewardene. For a moment it felt like the mood was drooling out. But then entered Anushan, who started off with a Tamil song which I can’t really remember the name of. But then he started singing the famous song ‘Why this Kolaveri’ which brought back the crowd right up. I still remember Aruna videoing the whole song while others sang the song whilst Anushan was the lead singer.
After some time I realized the members from other clubs were leaving. That moment I realized that time has flown and already past 11.00 pm. But the singing didn’t stop just there. The members of our Rotaract club were still there. So, we continued to sing more songs. I started compering as one of those show hosts in big outdoor concerts and everyone thought that I did a good job in that. I’m still trying to remember whose idea was to sing the new viral theme song of Vogue Jewelers. Anyway, Hasitha played that song and surprisingly I remembered all the words of that song and I sang. Everyone was laughing so hard including me and until the next day I didn’t know that Sandaru has recorded it as well.
Soon after Laila sang followed by Sathma. Sathma sang ‘Galway Girl’ by Ed Sheeran and to be honest she was fantastic. The funny part was that she started singing by saying that she is a horrible singer. Then came ‘Summer of 69’ by Bryan Adams. That’s where Hamdhan usually loses control of himself and starts singing and dancing. I’m still very eager to know why Hamdhan gets so hyperactive when he listens to that song.
It was a night that I didn’t want to end. But there is a popular saying which says ‘Even the best things have to end.’ So did the Karaoke Night. It indeed was a night filled with great happiness and laughter and truly a night to remember.
Rtr. Thisura Ramanayake
Editor