Come of you will remember reading in Samvada about GMM in Silver Oaks. GMM stood for “Great Minds Meet,” a group that was led by the Late Mr Luther and his wife, Mrs Luther. The thinking which drove GMM was that among the residents of Silver Oaks there was a pool of knowledge which, if it was brought out and shared with the entire community here, would be of immense benefit to everyone. Somehow, the group went into a sort of “pause’ mode after the passing away of Mr Luther.
However, as you all know, a good idea can be paused but it cannot be stopped.
Silver Oaks has a Cultural Committee which organises various cultural activities in the community. This mutually motivating team handled the GMM get-togethers and other occasions like Independence Day, Republic Day and other festivals. The Head of the Cultural Committee, Malti Sawhney (who is also the General Secretary of the Silver Oaks Condominium Association) and her “gang” decided that his initiative had to be revived, and formed a group of residents called the “Talent House of Silver Oaks” in early July this year. The purpose of “Talent House of Silver Oaks” is to recognise and share the talents, knowledge and expertise of our residents among ourselves. We have here people who are experts in music, dance, painting and other arts, as well as fields like finance, law, health and wellbeing, cookery, to name but a few. And we are very proud of the talent pool we have in Silver Oaks!
We started on the 3rd of July with a music recital by our very own, ever-smiling professional singer Sanjeev Aggarwal who beautifully sang for us some popular Hindi film numbers he chose because he knew how much we loved and enjoyed them. He was as popular and well-appreciated as he always has been, both in Silver Oaks and at many fora in Gurgaon and Delhi. And to the delight of everyone, he concluded by taking requests from us to great applause.
Our next meeting will be on the “Appreciation of Art” by Prof. Jyoti Nagpal. Known as the “Artist of Light,” Prof. Nagpal is a graduate of Hindustani Classical Music and in French. After her post-graduation in French Literature, Culture and Civilization from the US, she taught French for many years in India and abroad. Later, she took up the pursuit of art in earnest and has had many exhibitions of her paintings. In the forthcoming meeting, she will talk about what art is, its evolution and the need for us to express our emotions through art. And, she will discuss the ever-present question – is there good art and bad art?
