| The Development Group at St. Mary's is
the highly motivated spearhead of the congregation in
the area of positive work for the alleviation of
suffering due to inequalities in society - both home
and abroad. One of the group's projects is the raising of funds to help build dwellings for the homeless in South India. Having assisted the village of Madipuram in this way, essential and immediate aid is necessary for Mandalapadu - another village in Rev. Paul Rathnam's area in Andhra Pradesh which has been devastated recently by fire prior to the catastrophic effects of the monsoon. With the Indian project in mind, contact was made with the Tayside Hindu Centre and Temple to request their assistance. This has been generously given by Mr. Gopalakrishnan with much effort in co-ordination on his part - for which we are extremely grateful. Our gratitude also goes forth to our guest Elizabeth Watson - a soprano whose roles are well known to all lovers of grand opera in Tayside, and to all the choir of St. Mary's for their hours of weekly labour both to maintain the choral tradition in the chancel and to prepare the additional repertoire for this evening's performance. This recital, then, is not in the nature of a concert - more of a demonstration of how East and West beautify the worship of God through the musical art. It also permits a long overdue opportunity for westerners to hear the traditional and beautiful melodies of India performed by those experienced in their execution and enables us to inform the people of Mandalapadu that such assistance as we are able to give was brought to fruition with the co-operation of their Hindu brothers and sisters who now live among us as OUR kindred. Today, the eve of the Feast of St. Michael and all Angels, is an appropriate date on which to offer this recital as Michael is the Archangel whose sword is upraised to redress all forms of imbalance - including social inequality. |