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Chennai Sogetsu Branch Workshop - July 26th, 2025

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Seventeen members of the  Sogetsu Chennai branch met on Saturday, July 26th, after a long summer break. The enthusiasm to meet and enjoy each other's company was palpable at the ABK Hall. By 10.45am, the room was filled with loud conversations and occasional peels of laughter. Summer was almost done (well, almost), and the branch was set to start its activities for the rest of the year. Riji Malathi Pandurang welcomed Ms. Mami Teraoka, Researcher/Adviser, Culture & Information, Consulate-General of Japan  to the gathering of 17 members, and set the ball rolling with important announcements. She briefed the group about the Japan trip in April where a few of the members had attended a Sogetsu workshop in Tokyo with Master Instructor Sumide. Ma'am also spoke about the exhibition held earlier this year in March and the good experiences from the 5-day event. New members Zeenath Kadir, Christine Arati Fernando, and Ragini Prakash were welcomed. The workshop theme of the day was ...
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Annual Exhibition 2025

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  Annual Exhibition 2025 All the members eagerly look forward to displaying their creativity at the Annual Exhibition. The process of planning and executing is always very exciting. This year our annual exhibition entitled “Ikebana And Us” was held from March 27 to March 31 at Lalit Kala Academi. The venue was prepared and the arrangements were made by the enthusiastic members  the day before the exhibition was inaugurated.  The exhibition was inaugurated on March 27 by the Japanese Consul-General Takahashi Moneo who was accompanied by his wife Ms. Takahashi Mitsu gracefully draped in a saree.  Nancy Secrest, the national secretary of the American section of the Theosophical Society was present too. The other distinguished guests were Maria Artamma, Mr and Mrs. M.R. Ranganathan, Mr. And Mrs. C. Sriram, Mr. Gopinath, Mrs. And Mr. Sivan Kumar  and Mr. Yogesh.  The guests were introduced by Sensei Chitra Thiagarajan. Vote of thanks was delivered by Sensei Moll...
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April meeting and members visiting the Kyoto convention,

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Our April meeting was held on the 5 Th of April 2025 at ABK with 14 members in attendance. Our Chairperson Mrs Malathi Pandurang introduced Mrs Sujata Saravanan , consultant and therapist at Krishnamachari Yoga Mandiram to speak to us on Health and Physical fitness in Mindful wellness. Mrs Sujata Saravanan stressed on the benefits of meditation in our lives. After the meeting some of our members got together at a restaurant for a happy meal. Five of our members including our Chairperson attended the Ikebana internationa convention in Kyoto. Our members Mrs Molly Cherian, Mrs Bhuvana Sivashankaran and Mrs Chelvi Gopinath attended a workshop  at the Sogetsu  HQ in Tokyo.
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Arranging for the Emperor's birthday reception

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 On February 19, the Consul-General of Japan in Chennai, Mr. Takahashi Muneo hosted a reception  at Taj Coromandel to celebrate His Majesty the Emperor of Japan's 65th birthday. Riji Malathi Pandurang, Sensei Ambika Chandrasekar and Luna Bose attended the reception. Sensei Ambika Chandrasekar and Sensei Divya Selvam made two beautiful arrangements to mark the occasion. Arrangement by Sensei Divya Selvam Our Chairperson with  Mr. and Mrs Muneo Arrangement by Sensei Ambika
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FEBRUARY MEETING : WORKSHOP BY SENSEI AMBIKA CHANDRASEKAR:SPONTANEOUS CREATIVITY

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  FEBRUARY MEETING   Our February meeting was a very interesting one. A workshop was conducted by Sensei Ambika Chandrasekar.    Her theme was "Spontaenous Creativity".  Her message was ‘each one does with materials before you’. Each one had to use another member’s vase to create at the workshop. Our Chairperson then made it even more "spontaneous" by creating a lucky dip with numbers. Sensei Ambika demonstrated Spontaneous Creativity through two arrangements done in containers and materials brought by two different members.   Ambika drew lots too and got Chitra Thiagarajan's vase and materials! Sensei used Chitra's  blue glass container. With lily leaves, Chrysanthemum and Syngonium she created her first beautiful arrangement.  Using Indian almond branch and white lily in a u-shaped blue ceramic container that belongs to another member, Sensei Ambika made her second spontaneous arrangement.  The material was from her apartment garden, the...
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