Local guru receives national award

Guru Sadha Munien and his mother receive the award from acting Consul General of India, Praveen Saxena.

Cultural doyen, spiritual leader and school teacher, Guru Sadha Munien, was honoured by the South African Hindu Maha Sabha at the Durban City Hall, on Saturday. Continuing his late father’s legacy of propagating the ancient form of music and language to children in the Chatsworth and surrounding areas, Munien was awarded with the prestigious national award for the promotion of music, culture and language.

Speaking about the award, Munien said, “No one’s life is complete without the artistic and cultural balance. Language and culture keeps the community together and it is for this reason I will continue to uphold the legacy of my late father who was an iconic cultural leader in the community.” It was a moving moment when Munien called his 85-year-old mother on stage to receive the award with him. Munien’s late father, Soobramoney Munien Blakes, opened the Saraswathi Padasalai School of Fine Arts in 1961, in Cator Manor. Guru Munien continues this legacy and runs the school from Dawnridge Primary School in Moorton, every Friday. 529 pupils from around the community are currently being taught the art of music at the school and are able to showcase their talent on stage. Children as young as six-year-old are exposed to culture and discipline and perform live onstage with Guru Munien. Every two years, pupils have the opportunity to perform in a music festival in India and those who have excelled in playing their respective instruments will accompany Guru Munien on a world tour next July. The pupils are set to perform in Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore, India and London. Munien will also receive an international award in India for the invention of numerical system of playing the tabla and his DVD entitled, ‘Learn to play tabla in 30 days.’

Source: http://risingsunchatsworth.co.za/73231/local-guru-receives-national-award/