16 July 2022
Sogetsu Chennai members' face-to-face meeting was convened at ABK DOSAKAI after a COVID break
of 2 years. After meeting online, 16 members attended the first face to face meeting in several years! The meeting began on a sombre note, as we paid respects to the memory of two inspiring individuals; Shri Pandurang spouse of our dear mentor
Mrs Malathi Pandurang and former Japanese PM Mr Shinzo Abe. We began with a 2-minute silent introspection in their memory.
Mrs Malathi Pandurang then welcomed Mr
Kenji Miyata, Deputy Consul of Japan in Chennai. His wife Christi is also an
Ikebana artist. Mr Shankar Ramamurthy and Mr Kannan specializing in traditional floral artistry, invited by Dalley Varghese to do a demonstration on “Man and Plant materials of Tamilnadu” were received warmly by Mrs Pandurang and the members.
Mrs Pandurang invited Chelvi Gopinath and Bhuvana Shivshankaran to read out accounts and activities of the previous two years. Our sincere thanks to Mrs Malathi Pandurang for the sponsorship of a demonstration by an eminent ikebana personality Sensei Ken Katayama to celebrate our transition from Sogetsu Group to Sogetsu Branch.
Sensei Malathi who had been unanimously selected by all members as Branch Director thanked the old office bearers Ambika, Chelvi and Bhuvana and introduced the new committee members. Ambika had maintained a riveting account of our activities in Chennai Sogetsu Group Blog for over 15 years and managed our media relations impeccably; she is now taking a break from committee activities.
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| The new Deputy Directors |
As mentioned in our last report. this time
being a Branch, a larger committee has been constituted with Mrs Malathi
Pandurang as Director, Deputy Directors Divya Selvam and Chitra Rajan, and Trishala Vaishnav as Treasurer and Meenakshi Sarin as Programs In Charge. Additionally,
as 6 more members have joined Ikebana International, Meenakshi Sarin has been
given the role of liaison in charge for Ikebana International. Teaching senseis Meenakshi, Molly and Ambika will continue to be advisors and Prerana Mehta as Coordinator, Personnel.
The much-awaited part of the meeting began - Man and plant materials of Tamilnadu - a demonstration by Mr Shankar and Mr Kannan on plant decor for traditional celebrations and festivities. Three types of parrot representing the different cities of Tamilnadu state were showcased - the gorgeous Andal Parrot from famed town of Srirangam, fashioned with banana fibre and covered with custard apple leaves and various floral embellishments on its wings to the simpler and very elegant parrot forms from Coimbatore and Tamilnadu shaped by palm leaves.
Garland decor was also a highlight by
stringing together lotuses, India’s national flower along with
tuberoses, roses and jasmine flowers on banana fiber. Our Japanese guest
and members were enthralled by these parrots and the beautiful folds of lotus
petals to create the perfect garland. We were reminded of the art of Origami with these creations with plant material.
Chelvi Gopinath enabled the demo with her sprightly translation to english. Sincere thanks to Dalley Varghese for arranging the demo.
At the end the
audience was treated to a lovely demonstration by Mrs Malathi Pandurang
using twin sculpted, tall ceramic vases to depict the cultural
relationship between India and Japan. Two banana fibre balls and a long
strand of scented jasmine flowers between the vases was a beautiful expression
of fusion of traditional Indian decor with Japanese Ikebana.
Mr Miyata our chief guest mentioned that this was his first posting in India
and he was fascinated by the culture and food in Chennai.
Mrs Molly Cherian gave the vote of thanks. The meeting concluded with fellowship and light refreshments.
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