The Bhavan celebrated Diwali on Saturday 25 November, which was attended by hundreds of people in a central London hotel, from the diaspora, including celebrities, supporters, patrons, artists and admirers.
His Excellency Vikram Doraiswami, the High Commissioner of India to the UK was the Chief Guest, and sitar player and musician Anoushka Shankar was the Guest of Honour.
Raghu Nandakumara and Mira Manek were the comperes for the evening.
Lord and Lady Dholakia, Lord Paul, Lord and Lady Popat and Lord and Lady Ranger were among many key attendees.
‘My father had such a great love and appreciation for the Bhavan'
The event began with a vibrant music ensemble performance by The Bhavan students, composed and conducted by resident Guru Pandit Rajkumar Misra.
Executive Director Dr Nandakumara MBE chanted a prayer after which The Bhavan’s Chairman Subhanu Saxena gave his welcome address. He spoke about the responsibility of carrying forward the legacy, while thanking the services of staff, teachers, and the dedication of The Bhavan’s students.
This was followed by a scintillating Kathak performance by students taught by resident teachers Abhinav Mishra and Amun Bhachu.
Anoushka Shankar who was the Guest of Honour spoke about her experience and relationship with The Bhavan and her fondness and regards for Dr Nandakumara who not only presided over her wedding rites but also performed the last rites after Pandit Ravi Shankar’s death.
She addressed the audience and spoke about her childhood memories at The Bhavan. The 42-year-old recollected her first visit to watch ‘The adventures of Mowgli’ as child and recounted other instances of her time spent at The Bhavan along with her father Bharat Ratna Pandit Ravi Shankar. She expressed that The Bhavan remains the ‘go-to place' for Indian Arts, and that anyone who wants to explore, learn and experience should come to The Bhavan.
She was just 15 in late 1990s, when she collaborated with artists from The Bhavan, assisting her father on the famous ‘Chants of India’ album produced by late Beatle George Harrison.
Speaking at the event, Anoushka, dressed in a Sabyasachi gown said, “My earliest memory of Bhavan is seeing the adventures of Mowgli on stage, by my mother’s dance teachers. So, my mum, use to take me to the show. And I think I was two, three, somewhere around that age. To be living here in London and get taken to the public, and get to see on stage, ‘The Adventures of Mowgli’, and there were snakes and tigers, and elephants, but it was powerful enough to have the music, and it was all seeping in, in in my background, and I was kind of transported by this beautiful story.”
She went on to say, “Fast forward over the years, I've continued to come to see all these great legendary artists performing at the Bhavan. And I remember that it was such a welcoming place for children, like when we would get fidgety, we'd go and run, run in the hallways and be allowed to just stretch our legs a little and then come back. And it just meant that we could be there as kids!
“When George Harrison and my father wanted to work with a select Indian musicians and singers, of course, they called The Bhavan - that was where the teachers and the artists from the UK were…
“I live back in London again now. And it's the place where anyone asks me, I want my child to learn flute, where would I send someone to learn kathak, and I always say, call the Bhavan - it's my number one place that I would think of. It's an incredibly special place that we have, and I keep coming back to being a child and knowing that, of course, as an adult, I can appreciate it. For children to have that kind of exposure to their roots, to arts, to culture, to mythology, to all the things that come through what the Bhavan offers is so beautiful and meaningful…
“And of course, coming to my father, he had such a great love and appreciation for The Bhavan and supported everything that it stood for and so the relationship continued on, more deeply…”
‘Bhavan – the bridge connecting UK with India’
Chief guest India’s High Commissioner to the UK, HE Vikram Doraiswami, who was present with wife Sangeeta, in his speech paid homage to Pandit Ravi Shankar, to the unique relationship between a guru-shishya and finally cheered for the Indian culture, where he said, “there are no binaries or dualities”.
He said, “The Bhavan’s work in the last 51 years has made India and its culture accessible to all. It has brought a whole new generation of young people into a greater understanding and celebration of what it means to understand Indian art and culture; and it has made this accessible to a broader audience.
The High Commissioner added, “That says a lot, of course, for this country to start with, that the connection with India continues to be celebrated through its culture, and that makes the Bhavan one of the wonderful bridges that connects the UK with India.”
This was followed by a beautiful Bharatanatyam performance by The Bhavan students taught by resident Guru Sri Prakash Yadagudde.
Vice Chair of The Bhavan, Dr Surekha Mehta, gave the vote of thanks. The event concluded with a brilliant Odissi performance by The Bhavan students trained by resident teacher Katrina Rute.
The cultural segment ended with a short film showcasing The Bhavan’s annual activities and events, which has made UK its home since 1972.