17th October 2015, Saturday
The Centre got as peaceful as a centre could get. As the mood for the evening was set, a select few sat amidst the plethora of paintings that represented Mumbai in its old avatar, Bombay. Gyaan Adab celebrated The Spirit of Mumbai, our sister city, with an art exhibition and a poetry reading session by four eminent poets.
Featuring the painter-poet Anjali Purohit and poets Menka Shivdasani, Pervin Saket and Smita Sahay, the evening began with small introductions of each poet, followed by Randhir Khare inaugurating the session after reminiscing about how he had met them individually in the course of their respective lives.
The evening proved to be a delight for those present. It was the very possibility of hearing forgotten voices of an old city that is now in a state of tumult but back then was the jewel of the Queen’s necklace. There was something memorable about seeing Bombay come to life again, if only for a few hours.
Menka Shivdasani and Smita Sahay share a moment during the evening.
Pervin Saket reads about Bombay.
The programme began with an inauguration of the exhibition and was followed by the poetry reading session.
Anjali Purohit is an artist and a writer based in Mumbai.
Randhir Khare opens the session.
