Tower and Town, September 2018 (view the full edition)Three Continents in One EveningThis article was written by the late Pat Lovelace, one of the founding members of the Marlborough Brandt Group and the link with The Gambia. It was in her garden in Oare near Pewsey that the following took place. "There were strange and dreamlike events in Oare on a summer evening a week ago which should be recorded. The story of Genesis was unfolded in Classical Indian dance on the lawn of an English country garden with a foreground of lupins and foxgloves and the backdrop of Martinsell. One hundred and thirty members of the global community had come together to celebrate after a weekend conference held at St John's School on the subject of "Interdependence". They included Krishna Bhat from Mysore, Ousman Cham from The Gambia, Zahn Rahman from Bangladesh, Heather MacMillan from Scotland, Victor from Bombay, Bai Bojang from Gunjur, Naomi Brown from Hull, Chandra Kumar from Bangalore and Jan Polack from Avebury. Genesis portrayed by Rav D'Souza and other Indian colleagues with such exquisite expression in this setting was particularly poignant. Weren't we witnessing the creation of true internationalism? After a presentation of Indian yoga which stretched both limbs and imagination to their limits, Gambians, Britons and Indians sat on the grass grouped in sixes and sevens around a communal bowl eating traditional Gambian benechin (a spicy fish, vegetable and rice dish) with our right hands. We disco danced in the dusk to Reggae and Senegambian pop, feeling uncoordinated and gawky after the grace and athleticism of the Indian traditional dancing. Zahn Rahman it was who commented, as we watched this diverse group of people coming together in music, food and dance, that culturally the gap between India and Africa was greater than that between Britain and either continent (shades of our past colonial ties) and for all Gambians and Indians present this was the first time they had met people from their respective continents (in an English country garden on a summer evening in 1988!). We had all been amazed and awed by the grace of Genesis but the Indians were excited by the utterly natural and innate sense of rhythm of the Africans which was unmatched by us all. I am not sure where it left the British present, but at least we could be proud that we had acted as a catalyst in this extraordinary and timeless evening". Pat Lovelace (1988) |