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The Indian Diaspora, I always believed, have a lot of hidden talents other than what they do professionally for living. They must have inherited some of the artistic genes of their ancestors who have amazed the world in past and present. This got a boost in the art exhibition organized by Triveni International Club at the India Gardens in Monroeville on August 28, 2010. Chairperson, Dolly Luthra, summed up the event nicely: “Pittsburghers have artistic talents. Some are well-known locally and elsewhere. Many are in other professions and pursue their artistic interest in anonymity in spare time. The idea behind organizing the event is to have the artists share their talent with the community at large.”

Juginder Luthra welcomes the artists.

T he displays and the artists were all there – a dozen or so participants. 

Manenda Bhende, a physician specializing with the victims of child abuse, put her mark on ‘darkness-to light’ theme on at least two of her paintings.  Brightly colored balloons floating over a dark river of cruelty makes you think how hope and despair can live side by side.  Sarika Goulatia, a CMU arts graduate, presented her work inspired by the political events in an abstract style — open to viewer’s interpretations. Terrorist attack in Mumbai and the resulting devastation was well put in dashing brush strokes in acrylic. 

Rashmi Bhalakia presented her art of Rangoli. It made you wonder how Rangoli, an ancient cultural tradition and folk art dating back to the time of Mohen-Jo-Daro, has survived so beautifully.

Yasmine Ariff-Syed's creations in pottery.

Sunil Parulkar, a urologist, told us how he likes to create simple pleasures of life that people can relate to. His drawings were truly of professional quality which brought chuckles to every face. As satirical as these cartoons were, there were also touches of hilarity in many of them.

Chitra Teredesai’s work was visually wonderful. She has exhibited her creations before in the US. For this exhibition she presented some of her study of Rajasthani faces depicted in water color. Each face carried powerful emotions that simply drew you to the subjects like a moth to a flame.

Rupa Rokadia's creations in fashion jewelry.

Asmita Ranganathan, another healthcare professional and a part time illustrator for a children magazine “Bala Gokulam” presented her pencil sketches and water colors. Mahendra Shah, an architect, loves jokes and his professional level cartoons tell you that. It was fascinating to see how meticulous and patient he is in two of his framed works detailing the traditional intricacies of the Mithila School of Arts style.

Pratibha Khurana displayed an acrylic version of Napoleon Crossing the Alps, which showed the gusto reserved only for the heroes of the lore. Her other works were there in oils.

Pratibha Khurana's Private Moments at Panghat

Rani Kumar, an ER physician, presented a few pieces of her charcoal and pencil work and explained how she soothes her raw nerves from the day’s work related tensions and drudgeries by burying herself in arts.

Kiran Parikh and Rupa Rokadia demonstrated and explained the art of working with polymer clay, shaping into various forms of art objects. Kamalesh Aggarwal displayed his paintings and photographed the work of others through the eyes of a camera.

Neera and Neeraj Tayal’s painstaking needle work and framed photos were simply beautiful. Some photo were so good, they looked straight out of National Geographic.

Yasmeen Ariff-Syed’s artistic talent was on display in her creations with clays with many of her glazed pottery work exhibited.

One of the well established artists of the region, Harish Saluja was also there. He invited all to his exhibition Mandalas & Deities – Recent Paintings at the Mendlson Gallery from September 3 to October 2, 2010.

Juginder Luthra of Weirton, one of the organizers, thanked the Steubenville Art Association for lending the display panels and Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center for the easels and the projector.

It was very heartening to see so many artists living among us getting encouragement from their friends and peers. The glow on their faces told the story of all the hard work that went behind the scene.

Note: Amar Khurana of Moon Township took the pictures used in this article. He has been a Pittsburgher for nearly three decades practicing internal medicine. Amar Khurana also created the collage of pictures you see on the cover page.