Former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty joined members of their family to enjoy a weekend packed with Indian cultural performances of music and dance in London.
At Bhavan UK’s annual Diwali Gala, popular Indian author and parliamentarian Sudha Murty addressed the audience as guest of honour and acknowledged her son-in-law’s deep-rooted British Indian ethos, as “a proud British citizen” who grew up with “good Indian cultural values”.
Making an appeal for support of the community for Bhavan’s many activities as the “home of Indian arts”, Sudha Murty said: “The joy of art, the joy to help others is what Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan stands for.
“You must send your children here to understand Indian culture because when you grow old you go towards your roots.”
The High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, shared excerpts from Murty’s inspiring writings and also reflected on the high bar set by Rishi Sunak as Britain’s first prime minister of Indian heritage.
He said: “One of our guests has gone and set the bar so high for Indian-origin people that being a doctor or an engineer or owning how many ever Rolls-Royces is not going to be enough. With Rishi Sunak being here, I think the bar has been set to record levels.”
Rishi Sunak, who was also joined by his parents Usha and Yashvir Sunak, received a rockstar welcome at the Diwali Gala and then again at Bhavan UK in west London, where his daughter was among the performers at the ‘Rang: International Kuchipudi Festival’ organised by award-winning dance institute Arunima Kumar Dance Company (AKDC). This year’s iteration of the dance extravaganza showcased 100 artists from the age of four to 85 years, including live musicians, elderly contemporary dance artists, a wheelchair dancer with learning disabilities, international bursary students from Natarang Group, Poland, and young dancers of AKDC from across Britain.
The immersive event opened with a lamp lighting ceremony led by Sudha Murty, followed by a vibrant display of classical Indian music and dance.
MORE LIKE THIS…
*Info: Bhavan UK