Padma Bhushan Dr. SP Balasubramaniam was felicitated at the British Parliament . The event was hosted by Senior Labour leader and MP from Southall Virendra Sharma MP. The Chief Guest on the occasion was High Commissioner of India Ranjan Mathai, Guests of Honour included Lord Loomba and Lord Dholakia, while Dr Nanda Kumara of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan was a special honorary guest. Students of Sanskruti Centre marked the beginning of the program by rendering “Swagatam Subha Swagatam” song music directed by Pandit Ravi Shankar for Asiad 82. Ragasudha Vinjamuri presented cultural welcome through her dance on Lord Shiva before the valedictory.
The High Commissioner paid a befitting tribute to the legendary singer. Dr Nanda spoke of his contributions to Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi Cinema. A traditional tilak was drawn and sandalwood paste offered to him as Dr Ashok Bhuvanagiri of Telugu Association of Scotland read the Sanman Patra written in Telugu in honour of the singer. It was presented by Lord Loomba and Lord Dholakia. Dr Balasubrahmanyam in his speech said he felt humbled to be honoured in the British Parliament. He rendered a beautiful poem on Goddess Saraswati and commended the cultural program presented on the occasion. ETV CEO Bapineedu was also given brief honours for bringing the star-studded Swarabhishekam program to the UK audiences.
Vote of thanks was given by Ramesh Golkonda. The program was organised by Telugu Association of Scotland and Ragasudha Vinjamuri, Fellow of Royal Society of Arts and Artistic Director for Sanskruti Centre.