Page 71 - BSAM 2015 Q4

this art form, Nikunj and Jyoti Parekh, that were the spark that ignited the bonsai ame in India. When they invited Chase Rosade to India in 1987, he had been preceded by John Naka, who taught the basics of bonsai and toured India with the Parekhs, and later, by Tom Yamamoto, from Japan, who taught the basics of saikei, the art of landscapes in a tray. Chase remembers that to work on plants with good potential for styling into bonsai, they rst had to visit nurseries and homes, searching for suitable potted plants. Since then, and over his many trips there, he has noticed a
continual improvement in bonsai art; that small spark fueled and strengthened by ever increasing numbers of artists, growers and collectors.
e All Indian Bonsai Convention is an event to be applauded—a special thank you goes to the Ban- yan Bonsai Club, Chanda Agrawal, Piyush Shah and Sanjay Dham.
Before returning to the US, Chase and I had the pleasure of spending an a ernoon with Nikunj and Jyoti Parekh, enjoying their company and their won- derful bonsai collection that spreads over three levels,
Top left and right; weeping style Operculacarya decaryi,
or Elephant tree, 86 cm, from the bonsai collection of Vinita Agarwañ who also received the“The Dragon”award for her Ficus retusa, windswept style 68 cm.
Bottom left and right; Tiger bark cus, 80 cm, and the Sacred Tree of India, award-winning Banyan, 95 cm, from Chanda Agrawal’s bonsai collection.
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