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Kuwait, Sep 22: On Friday September 19 Konkani speaking musical lovers in Kuwait witnessed one of the most electrifying moment in history of Konkani, when a Kuwaiti citizen mesmerized the packed audience of 1,300 at the American International School auditorium, when he beautifully rendered the Konkani song ’Mog Tuzo Kitlo Axelom’, a compsoition of Konkani legend Wilfy Rebimbus.

History was created, every soul present in the auditorium encouraged and applauded Mubarak Al Rashed Al Azmi who rendered the Konkani song with admirable fluency. It was heartening to see the entire audience give him a standing ovation when he successfully completed the song. The music hungry audience an encore in unison, and Murbarak gracefully obliged, but without music. This time, the audience too joined him in singing the song.

The beauty of the rendition was, Mubarak sang the latter part of the Konkani song in Arabic.Mubarak, who is a great fan of Indian music, performed this song during semi-finals of Kuwait segment of ’Gulf Voice of Mangalore’ Season 4.

Mubarak Al Rashed has an uncanny voice-resemblance to the timeless legend Kishore Kumar, which has won him the moniker ‘Kuwaiti Kishore Kumar’. In his own words, speaking in Hindi, he calls himself a ’saccha sangeet premi’ (true music lover). "Although I deeply admire both Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi, I relate most to Kishore," says Mubarak, who not only sounds, but also has Kishore’s brand of playfulness.

Mubarak’s stage debut during SaReGaMa performance back in 2008 was an unexpected event. His enthusiastic cousin Abdullah secretly convinced two expatriates, Rehan and Saud of the organizing team, to give Mubarak a chance. “He just called me one evening and told me to dress up and drive to Qadsiya Stadium,” says Mubarak, as he recounts the episode that took him out of his Diwaniya and placed him in front of a live audience for the first time. “I didn’t realize what was happening until I heard my name being called…and then suddenly, I was on stage with the microphone in my hand. The first song I sang in public was ‘Mein Hoon Don’, but my memory of the whole experience is like a dream, very fantastic, and equally frightful.”