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News India Times September 11, 2015
– that’s all you need to know
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L. Subramanium, Kavita Krishnamurti Peform In New York
By a StaffWriter
arnatic classical music
maestro L.
Subramanium and his
family performed at a
‘Tribute Concert to Sri
Chinmoy’ to a capacity audi-
ence at Baruch Performing Arts
Centre in New York City August
29.
Subramanium, known as one
of the greatest Indian classical
violinist playing in Carnatic
style, was accompanied by
vocalist Kavita Krishnamurti
Subramanium as well as Bindu
and Ambi Subramanium.
This event brought together
the entire Subramanium family,
including parents as well as
their son and daughter and
granddaughter. Opening the
evening and enchanting every-
one, was a four-year old Mahati
singing to her grandfather L.
Subramanium’s thrilling violin
in her first time ever perform-
ance.
Maestro Subramaniam is
India’s foremost violinist.
Raised in the Carnatic South
Indian Classical tradition, he is
famous worldwide for the
diversity of his contribution to
the world of music. The pioneer
of what is known as global
fusion, is a maestro in the west-
ern classical, jazz and North
Indian styles, collaborating
with artists such as Yehudi
Menuhin, Jean Luc Ponty and
Stanley Clarke.
Subramaniam and family
offered this musical tribute to
Sri Chinmoy and his vast legacy
as a dreamer of world peace
who composed over 21,000
songs in his native Bengali and
English and performed in 800
peace concerts worldwide.
Beginning in 1970 Sri
Chinmoy began leading twice
weekly peace meditations at
the United Nations for dele-
gates and staff, and in 1964 he
came to the West from India to
“serve humanity in a multitude
of cultural, peace and sports
activities.”
He developed enduring
friendships with luminaries
from all walks of life, including
Mother Teresa, President
Mikhail Gorbachev, President
Nelson Mandela and
Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
In 2006 Sri Chinmoy hon-
ored Dr. Subramaniam and
family with his unique ‘Lifting
Up the World with a Oneness-
Heart’ for their unprecedented
dedication to musical excel-
lence and in fostering educa-
tion in the arts and spreading
the best of Indian culture
throughout the world.
Kavita Krishnamurti
Subramaniam, with her soulful
timbre of voice performed at
the concert, for the first time, a
selection of Bengali songs com-
posed by Sri Chinmoy – Bhulite
Diyona and Turiya Ranjana.
Bindu Subramaniam,
dubbed as a ‘third generation
prodigy’ and ‘an assured young
soprano’ by the press, wrote her
first song at seven and has been
performing since age twelve.
Ambi Subramaniam gave his
first performance at the age of
seven and since then has per-
formed in many prestigious
venues across the world. Hailed
as “the new king of Indian clas-
sical violin” Ambi regularly
plays duet violin concerts with
his father L. Subramaniam as
well as solo concerts.
“Music is a vast ocean and
no one can claim to know it all.
The more you know, the more
you realize how little you know.
It is an eternal quest,” said L.
Subramaniam, adding that it
was a great honor to pay tribute
to the global peace leader and
master musician Sri Chinmoy
who will continue to live on
through his great and powerful
work.
The maestro is slated to per-
form in various concerts
throughout North America dur-
ing September.
C
Mahendra Singh Dhoni Visits Siddhivinayak Temple
In a rare public appearance in the United States, Indian ODI Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni visited Siddhivinayak Temple in Toms River, New
Jersey, Aug. 30 and briefly interacted with the guests who gathered for puja and hawan at the temple which is expected to open with Pran
Pratishtha Oct. 23. Dhoni was accompanied by wife Sakshi as well as Sudesh Kumar Mahto, former deputy chief minister of Jharkhand and his
wife Neha. The visit was organized by the Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America. Dhoni asked those present to keep supporting the Indian
cricket team which, according to him, is going through a lot of changes. He said it was an “eye-opener” for him to see how the Diaspora has
embraced U.S. culture but at the same time held on to their Indian heritage. Above, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, third from right, with his wife Sakshi,
second from right, taking part in puja at Siddhivinayak Temple.
Gunjesh Desai
No Hanuman,
No Ten
Commandments
Continue from page 3
And now in Arkansas,
the Governor signed into
law a bill which instructs
the Secretary of State to
erect a privately funded
Ten Commandments
monument on the state
capital grounds. In the
same breath, the
Secretary of State has
rejected an application
for a statue of the Hindu
deity, Hanuman, though
on what appears to be a
technicality.
An application for a
public display of
Baphomet also seems to
be forthcoming. What’s a
state to do?
Just as the non-reli-
gious aspects of the
Decalogue have been
eked out in order to jus-
tify its presence on state
property, I too can argue
until the cows come
home about all the “non-
religious” symbolic value
of Hanuman or perhaps,
in defense of a more
similar display to the
Commandments – one
of the Bhagavad Gita.
A public display of
some of its quotes
etched in stone, I would
hold, symbolizes the
Gita’s historical impact
on RalphWaldo
Emerson, the 19th cen-
tury American
Transcendentalist
Movement, and perhaps
the greatest generation
of American literature,
intellectualism, and phi-
losophy – a movement
that gave birth to intel-
lectual giants like Henry
David Thoreau, Louisa
May Alcott, William
Henry Furness, andWalt
Whitman. But with the
way things have gone for
non-Judeo Christian dis-
plays, why bother? It
seems the government
and even our highest
Court have wriggled
around Constitutional
guarantees in order to
pick sides.
Is that what our
Founding Fathers, as
influenced as they may
have been by the 10Cs,
intended when they
prophetically drafted the
First Amendment as a
foundation for our secu-
lar democracy? I’m fairly
confident most freedom-
loving Americans would
say no.
