CHENNAI: From the famed Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar to the commoner, many weren’t spared as far as seeking spiritual guidance from the austere guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba was concerned. November 23 happened to be Baba’s 98th Jayanthi, which was celebrated with much fanfare by Bharathanjali Trust and Anitha Guha’s Bharathanjali. It was incidentally the 34th anniversary of the Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan as well. Ergo, it wasn’t a surprise that a dual celebration was in order with the school being the centre where the action was taking place.
On the occasion, 11 awardees were honoured — singer and composer Rajkumar Bharathi, singer OS Arun, director and writer Dushyanth Sridhar, performer Melattur S Kumar, Bharatanatyam and Kuchupudi dancer Uma Murali, percussionist Ganapathy Venkatasubramanian, music producer Sai Shravanam, dramatist S Shivapprasadh, Sri Krishna Sweets MD Murali Mahadevan and secretaries of Narada Gana Sabha, K Harishankar and M Ravichandran — in the presence of the chief guests for the evening — classical dancer and choreographer ‘Padma Bhushan’ Alarmel Valli, vocalist ‘Kalaimamani’ Vishaka Hari and ‘Cleveland’ VV Sundaram. In the event that you aren’t aware, Sundaram has been promoting Carnatic music and dance in North America since the ‘70s.
The evening commenced with an opening address by actress and storyteller Revathi Shankaran followed by group presentations from various Nritya Natakam (acts) choreographed by Bharatanatyam exponent Anitha Guha, presented in honour of the awardees.
The school’s youngsters weren’t left far behind — they showcased Porpinai Neegi, an illustration of Sundara Kandam’ from Ramayanam, with captivating portrayals by Nidheesh Kumar and Anjali Vishwesh. A standout performance of the day was surely that of Smrithi Vishwanath as ‘Lankini’. For the Curious Georges, Lankini was a cruel albeit funny demoness whose antics included mocking Lord Hanuman with the latter being portrayed by Saathvika Shankar.
Vishwanath said, “The function was mainly put together to pay tribute to and show her devotion to Sri Sathya Sai Baba by Anitha ma’am by way of honouring artistes and other dignitaries who have given so much to their respective fields. She has been doing this for over 30 years now.” Another stellar act was Gopi Gopala Bala from ‘Nandalala’ by Sanjana Narayanan as Krishna in the company of Smrithi Sudhakar, Vars h a Rajkumar, Ravali Mylavarapu, Sandhya Shankar and Anjali Vishwesh as the gopikas, taking us into the starcladded nights of Mathura.
The guests shared their personal experiences following which Arangetram certificates were distributed. The evening furthered with a yoga presentation by students trained under faculty Vandana followed by a ‘Jathiswaram’ (a Bharatanatyam dance) presentation by tiny tots under the tutelage of Nalina and Yogitha. Bringing up the rear was Anitha Guha’s final piece Jaya Jaya Govinda from the Praise of Seven Hills.