𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔,
𝑷𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒌𝒂, 𝒂𝒔 𝑷𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒂 𝑽𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑫𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒂 𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝑮𝒖𝒓𝒖 𝑽𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒔𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒌𝒂𝒓 (𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒂 𝑵𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒚𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝑨𝒓𝒕𝒔, 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒏, 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒂) 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝑮𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝑫𝒓 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒊 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒌𝒂𝒓’𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒕𝒔 (𝑻𝑭𝑨, 𝑲𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒂 𝑳𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒓) 𝒐𝒏 15 𝑭𝒆𝒃, 2025.
As usual Paduka gave an inspiring keynote address praising Varsheni’s performance as the culmination of three generations of Guru-Shishya Parampara, exemplified by Paduka, Vinosree and Varsheni. Both mother and daughter had also studied under her tutelage.
The next day, on 16 Feb, Paduka and her grand niece, dancer Mahati Kannan, daughter of veena maestro Dr Kannan Balakrishnan and Dr Gayathri Kannan, gave a scintillating performance of Bharatanrityam. Paduka, endeared herself to the adoring audience, dancing a full Varnam which in itself was an amazing feat.
She mesmerised with her power of abhinaya and mastery of rhythm where mridangist Sri Nagai P Sriram, accented her every gestures and footwork. It was also clear from Mahati’s effortless execution of both the Nritta and Nritya passages that she is the perfect vehicle for Bharatanrityam.
Paduka was able the next day to fulfill her longtime wish to see a performance of makyong, however brief, which she has always wanted to experience. This was arranged by Smt Vijayalakshmy Sunderrajan, Director of NSCBICC (Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indian Cultural Centre) at The National Academy of Arts, Culture & Heritage (Aswara).
Two of the living Adigurus, Puan Fatimah Abdullah and Eh Mohd Nasir rendered a brief section of the Makyong. Paduka shared her scholastic views upon seeing the performance of the ‘Menghadap Rebab’ from the point of view of her work on Natya Shastra. Datuk Ramli Ibrahim moderated this valuable exchange between the Malay and Indian perspectives.
On returning from Aswara, Paduka was able for the first time to visit Sutra House and partake in a Sutra Odissi dance rehearsal. There followed a marvelous exchange of dance when Mahati demonstrated aspects of the karana and performed to the vocal rendition of her mother, Dr Gayathri Kannan and to the percussion accompaniment of Sri Nagai Sriram.
It was an engaging and insightful evening for everyone present and was specially enriching and privileged experience for everyone of us at Sutra.
Sutra.