Exhibition Revives Battered Mumbai

The ‘Truth, Compassion, Tolerance’ art exhibit brings peace and serenity to battered Mumbai.
Exhibition Revives Battered Mumbai
Students from the J. J. School of Arts examine the paintings. (Prashant Raina/The Epoch Times)
12/8/2008
Updated:
12/9/2008
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/1afierst_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/1afierst_medium.jpg" alt="Attendees watch a video on selected paintings.   (Sanjeev Thakeria/The Epoch Times)" title="Attendees watch a video on selected paintings.   (Sanjeev Thakeria/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-77471"/></a>
Attendees watch a video on selected paintings.   (Sanjeev Thakeria/The Epoch Times)
MUMBAI, India—While the city of Mumbai struggles to come to grips with the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks, the people of Mumbai seek peace and serenity. Aptly, the Times Foundation is holding a unique international art exhibition themed Truth, Compassion, Tolerance: The Art of a Higher Good, arranged by the Falun Dafa Association of India.

While India faces a growing threat from terrorists trained elsewhere, the Falun Gong practitioners depicted in the paintings suffer under a reign of terror sponsored by their own government. Renowned artist Kahini Arte Merchant, a practicing Buddhist, officially opened the exhibition with the Indian tradition of lighting lamps.

“I think the paintings are very skillfully made,” she said. “The message they convey is important today because faith is the cornerstone of our lives. There is no better time than now [after the terrorist attacks] to pursue ideals such as Truth, Compassion and Tolerance.”

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/1asecond_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/1asecond_medium-339x450.jpg" alt="Kahini Arte Merchant lights three lamps, standing for Truth, Compassion and Tolerance.  (Prashant Raina/The Epoch Times)" title="Kahini Arte Merchant lights three lamps, standing for Truth, Compassion and Tolerance.  (Prashant Raina/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-77472"/></a>
Kahini Arte Merchant lights three lamps, standing for Truth, Compassion and Tolerance.  (Prashant Raina/The Epoch Times)

The paintings in the exhibition are from artists hailing from several countries, including China, the U.S. and Canada. All of them are engaged in the spiritual practice of Falun Dafa—a mind and body discipline that integrates Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance into everyday life and that practitioners say brings about remarkable transformations. The paintings depict the beauty of Falun Dafa, as well as the brutal persecution practitioners have suffered at the hands of the Chinese Communist regime. “Where freedom, dignity, and goodness seem surely eclipsed—we see ordinary people becoming extraordinary,” said the invitation cards.

The exhibition began on the 5th of December at Nalanda @ CST, the World Wisdom Centre, a department of the Times Foundation that regularly organizes activities related to spirituality. The Times Foundation is a development house set up by The Times Group, the largest media group in India. The Times Group boasts of publishing the world’s largest English daily, The Times of India, and the world’s second largest financial daily, The Economic Times.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/1aterm_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/1aterm_medium.jpg" alt="Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus  (Avinash Anand/Flickr.com)" title="Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus  (Avinash Anand/Flickr.com)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-77473"/></a>
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus  (Avinash Anand/Flickr.com)

Nalanda @ CST is based in the Times Building, which stands beside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, a historic railway station, and one of the main targets of the terrorist attacks that struck Mumbai on 26 November. It barely escaped being blown up, thanks to a faulty timer on the 20-pound bomb placed there. The terrorists also made an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Times Building on the same evening.

The President of the Falun Dafa Association of India, Suren Rao, emphasized that Mumbai’s need today is the healing touch of Truth, Compassion and Tolerance. Indian Falun Gong practitioners also demonstrated the exercises of Falun Gong to the attendees.

“I have practiced Tai Chi and other practices before, so it is easy for me to identify Falun Dafa,” said Mr. Ram Kumar, a Kung Fu teacher. He expressed strong interest in learning the practice of Falun Dafa after attending the exhibition.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/1afinal_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/1afinal_medium-342x450.jpg" alt="Students from the J. J. School of Arts examine the paintings.  (Prashant Raina/The Epoch Times)" title="Students from the J. J. School of Arts examine the paintings.  (Prashant Raina/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-77474"/></a>
Students from the J. J. School of Arts examine the paintings.  (Prashant Raina/The Epoch Times)

Zubair Azmi, an Urdu poet who attended the exhibition, was inspired by the painting “Uncompromising Courage” to compose an Urdu couplet: “My feet are bound, but my heart is free.”

Mr. J. S. Shetty, a Chief Office Superintendent working for the Central Railways, found the theme of the exhibition very deep. “Tolerance plays a very important role in our lives, but very few people have it. If people want to enjoy life, they need tolerance,” he said.

“I’m stunned. I never knew anything about this persecution,” said Aditi Vengurlekar, an arts student, “This paints a very different picture of China what I imagined. I like these paintings very much and I think the artists have succeeded in portraying what they intended to.”

Other attendees included business owners, artists, professors, students, engineers, media employees and railway staff.

The exhibition will continue until the 10th of December, International Human Rights Day.
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