Programme Highlights

“Chinmaya Naada Bindu Stall at Sawai Gandharva Festival – 2010”

7th to 10th January, 2010 at Sawai Gandharva Festival, Pune

Chinmaya Naada Bindu, for the first time, put up a stall at the Sawai Gandharva Festival at Pune from 7th to 10th January, 2010. This meant being present during 5 sessions of music, each session comprising 4 to 5 artists. The festival is the biggest of its kind in Maharashtra, and has an average of 15000 people attending the 4-day program every year

The list of performing artists included names like Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Girija Deviji, Pt. Ramnarayan, Smt. Malini Rajurkar, Dr. Prabha Atre, Shri Raja Kale, Shri Raja Miya, Shri Satyasheel Deshpande, Shri Shrikant Deshpande, Shri Chandrashekhar Vaze, Shri Rajendra Kandelgaonkar, Smt. Devki Pandit, Smt. Mallika Sarabhai and others.

Leaflets about CNB and the forthcoming ‘Vani Veena Ki’ workshop were freely distributed among the music lovers. About 900 souvenirs ‘Expressions of the Divine’, printed during ‘Dancing Drums’ in Dec. 2007 were distributed to those visiting the stall. Many appreciated this gesture.

2 large banners were displayed at the stall. Books and CDs were displayed for sale by the Pune CHYKs. A large-sized TV continuously played the CNB launch film and a slide show of the inaugural function photos on the last two days. During breaks, CDs were played. A good sale was recorded.

Positive networking was achieved, with some visitors genuinely offering to help out with promoting CNB. This, being the first such attempt, has helped in gaining rich experience.

Active support from Br. Shailesh Chaitanyaji and the Pune CHYKs, as well as our own volunteers, Shobha and Shabnam, made it possible to have a vibrant stall at very short notice. Thanks also to Shri Amit Gokhale, who helped us get the stall, though approached by us late in the day.