Published on Thursday, Aug 12, 2010 at 0013 Hrs. IST

Continuing with the ongoing series of cultural presentations by visiting overseas groups, a group of nations from the Caribbean Islands presented a musical offering of West Indies Love, entitled Unity in Diversity on the evening of 8th Aug in the Divine presence. The island nations participated included Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, Curacao etc. Over 240 devotees from the above island nations have joined in this pilgrimage to Prasanthi Nilayam.

In the evening, upon coming onstage at 1700 hrs. Bhagawan sat through for the next ten minutes listening to the Vedic incantations before commencing the proceedings at 1710 hrs.  Regional Incharge of SSSSO, Mr. Tajmool Hussein made a brief introduction of the ensuing programme, listing out the country names offering gratitude to Bhagawan's benign benevolence. He also made a mention of the humanitarian services rendered by the island nations during the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti early this year.

The Island Nations’ offering of Love blossomed in the form of a small stint of Vedam. Continuing from there they presented an array of seven songs, fast numbers, accompanied by scintillating music. The first song was the famous Harry Belafonte composition, "Island in the Sun", an illustration of daily life and living in the island nation. Next number to follow was "One Love, One Heart" of Bob Marley, on the Brotherhood of Man and Fatherhood of God. Third one "Oh Children of Noble and Ancient Culture" 'spoke about' the story of ancestral indian migration of 'great labour' into the island nation, building the 'new home' adhering to Dharma, that was carried from India. Four more songs followed, all sounding Love for the Lord before the Balvikas children and the Young Adults took over with a unique music extravaganza, an instrumental on Steelpan.

Tassa drums or Steelpans are claimed to have originated in the Caribbean islands, known as the traditional or Indigenous musical instrument of the island nation made purely out of used oil barrels.

Playing on the Tassa drums, this group of children, tuned to the finger baton of the conductor, created a west indian canvas on the waning hour of the day, showcasing the rarest of the culture of the island nation, as a loving offering at the Lotus Feet of Bhagawan. Both the offerings were conducted by Rana Mohip from Trinidad and Tobago.

This fifteen minute offering was followed by a couple of bhajans by the troupe before Bhagawan called for Mangala Arathi at 1755 hrs. before retiring to Yajur Mandiram.