Garden of the soul

as primordial energy,” said organiser, Shounok Chatterjee. “We thought music without words captured the focus of the concert.”

It was one of Shounok’s first events organised through his Panchanjanya Inc.

“The bird,” he said, “knows no boundaries. It is a messenger of peace and freedom, born in the garden of the soul and taking flight in the heart.” which aims to share Indian classical music with the public. Shounok’s love of art and music was obvious in his opening address. “It reveals new possibilities in your life,” he commented.He must have been really pleased, securing a full house at the venue. Purbayan’s music flowed like liquid from his sitar. The audience was spellbound right from his opening alap, entertained both by Purbayan’s sense of humour and enlightened from his uplifting music. He firstly played with Sivakumar (from Saraswati Mahavidhyalaya) then was joined by Praashekh after intermission whom Purbayan cited as one of India’s finest young sarod players.

He was humble in his praise for the concert. “Hats off to someone of Shounuk’s generation for taking this on board and to Praashekh who is a truly talented musician. Joining hands with these two to further the cause of live Indian improvisational music is an honour.”

Let’s hope Purbayan Chatterjee visits for a third time in the near future.

Grahak Cunningham

2007), who was most well known as a musician and sportsman, but also as a prolific poet, artist and author. He chose birds as his main artistic motif painting over 16 million of them in his life time.

Interspersed amongst the artwork are comments on the art from humanitarian leaders, including Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev and Desmond Tutu. Said Nelson Mandela, “We are a single humanity. We must work together, united as one, to build a world of justice and harmony for all. Within each of us lies the power to build a world where we respect each other’s beliefs, understand each other’s culture and support each other’s values – a world where hatred, pain and suffering have no place. This is the great cause of world peace to which my dear friend Sri Chinmoy devoted his life and to which his paintings are dedicated.”

The art was set up by a small band of dedicated volunteers from the Perth

Sri Chinmoy Centre who travelled to the regional town for the weekend and managed to display everything within the three-hour time frame that the Capel Library was open for on the Saturday.

Nannup nurse Anna Gordon who helpedset up the exhibit said, “It is great to have these artworks in the South West and there is such a beautiful hanging space in Capel library. Everyone who sees the paintings always goes away uplifted and many wonderful humanitarians have shown their support for peace through art.”

Sri Chinmoy’s art has previously been exhibited at Parliament House, Canberra, the foyer of the United Nations Headquarters in New York and the Commonwealth Institute in London. There will be a major exhibit of Sri Chinmoy’s art at nearby Collie Gallery in 2020.

Grahak Cunningham