By A STAFF REPORTER
REDONDO BEACH, CA - The Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center saw music lovers gather on Nov.3 to enjoy the sublime and versatile music of the famed Hariharan. The locus for the event, titled ‘Shruti Sandhya,’ was the annual fundraiser held by Chinmaya Mission Los Angeles to gather resources to support its various educational and cultural activities that reach out and...
REDONDO BEACH, CA - The Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center saw music lovers gather on Nov.3 to enjoy the sublime and versatile music of the famed Hariharan. The locus for the event, titled ‘Shruti Sandhya,’ was the annual fundraiser held by Chinmaya Mission Los Angeles to gather resources to support its various educational and cultural activities that reach out and...
touch children, youth, adult and seniors in the community. Attendees, before they entered the auditorium viewed banners with simple yet profound quotes from the founder of the worldwide mission, Swami Chinmayananda and a beautifully decorated altar. Everyone seemed dressed in their finest and mingled and caught up with each other before trickling into the auditorium.
Swami Ishwarananda, head acharya of CMLA welcomed the guest of honor Swami Ramakrishnananda from Chinmaya Mission Chennai and went on to give a brief yet pertinent message through a story. Karna’s generous nature, in the Mahabharata, he said illustrated that sharing is a higher form of giving. While the act of giving is meritorious, it imposes a sense of obligation upon the receiver and has a touch of egocentric quality to it (I am the giver!) and hence can lead to weariness - we often hear the term donor fatigue! The act of sharing is even more noble in that it removes the sense of ownership (ego) and is therefore effortless. Swamiji encouraged the audience to share their resources with the community and donate generously towards the fundraiser. His short talk was laced with humor and set the tone for an energetic and entertaining evening.
After brief presentations on the financial health of the organization, an audio-visual on the mission’s activities in the past year and introduction of the organizing committee, Padmashree Hariharan and his troupe took to the stage.
As he bounced on stage, he was welcomed by his fans with a roar of anticipation. The eclectic set of songs he went on to present was just what the audience was looking for. There were fusion pieces, ghazals, well-known film songs Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and even Urdu Blues! The gifted singer Chinmayi who was able to effortlessly hit high notes also bantered with the audience, keeping them in good humor. The audience, especially the younger set, participated raucously in the songs with sing-alongs, shouted-out requests and even dancing in the aisles. The evening concluded with a moving version of the classical Krishna Nee Begane Baro arranged and interpreted by Hariharan. It was a beautiful melding of east and west and as a call to the Lord to come back on earth to alleviate all suffering, it was topical, emotional and a fitting end to an excellent evening of music for a noble cause. -With inputs by Anand Subbaraman.
Swami Ishwarananda, head acharya of CMLA welcomed the guest of honor Swami Ramakrishnananda from Chinmaya Mission Chennai and went on to give a brief yet pertinent message through a story. Karna’s generous nature, in the Mahabharata, he said illustrated that sharing is a higher form of giving. While the act of giving is meritorious, it imposes a sense of obligation upon the receiver and has a touch of egocentric quality to it (I am the giver!) and hence can lead to weariness - we often hear the term donor fatigue! The act of sharing is even more noble in that it removes the sense of ownership (ego) and is therefore effortless. Swamiji encouraged the audience to share their resources with the community and donate generously towards the fundraiser. His short talk was laced with humor and set the tone for an energetic and entertaining evening.
After brief presentations on the financial health of the organization, an audio-visual on the mission’s activities in the past year and introduction of the organizing committee, Padmashree Hariharan and his troupe took to the stage.
As he bounced on stage, he was welcomed by his fans with a roar of anticipation. The eclectic set of songs he went on to present was just what the audience was looking for. There were fusion pieces, ghazals, well-known film songs Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and even Urdu Blues! The gifted singer Chinmayi who was able to effortlessly hit high notes also bantered with the audience, keeping them in good humor. The audience, especially the younger set, participated raucously in the songs with sing-alongs, shouted-out requests and even dancing in the aisles. The evening concluded with a moving version of the classical Krishna Nee Begane Baro arranged and interpreted by Hariharan. It was a beautiful melding of east and west and as a call to the Lord to come back on earth to alleviate all suffering, it was topical, emotional and a fitting end to an excellent evening of music for a noble cause. -With inputs by Anand Subbaraman.