Indian expatriates are in for a treat with musical and literary nights on Friday and Saturday at the boys section of the International Indian School, Jeddah.

World-renowned Indian musician Sandip Chatterjee will perform a recital on the santoor, while author Tom Alter will present a one-man show as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the late Indian independence leader and minister.

The Indian consulate has organized the event as part of its 65th Republic Day celebrations. The North Indian Fraternity Forum, Jeddah, has also been part of the organizing team.

Santoor is a stringed instrument, indigenous to the Kashmir Valley. In ancient times, it was known as “Shata-tantri-veena,” or “the hundred-stringed lute.” The santoor is made of maple or walnut wood, trapezoid-shaped, with steel strings. A musician plays it with a pair of curved, walnut mallets.

Chatterjee was born in Howrah on Nov. 6, 1973 and is a graduate in commerce. He was musically inclined from a tender age. His father, Asoke Kumar Chatterjee, was an internationally acclaimed football player in India and an ardent connoisseur of Indian classical music.

In 1986, Chatterjee won first place as an instrumentalist in a contest organized by Sangeetayan in New Delhi. In 1990, he won the President of India Award.

Alter, who has written one non-fiction and two fiction books, and in 2008 was awarded the prestigious Padma Shree by the Indian government for his services to the arts and cinema, will narrate Azad’s life with anecdotes encompassing his thoughts and scholarship.

The play, written, directed and produced by M. Sayeed Alam, will show Azad dictating notes to Humayun Kabir for his book and talking about various political and other issues, including white jasmine tea, the Taj Mahal, cigarettes and Cheeta Khan.