This year’s Vidyaramba Puja on Saturday, 23rd October, 2004 was a very different experience. A spanking new look for the good old SIES Hall, where we have all had many, many memorable dance sessions with our beloved ‘Aunty’.
The release function of Deva Bhakti Desa Bhakti, the new Audio Cassette and CD, which our Guruji has specially brought out for the younger dancers, the very new generation of budding talent.
The august presence of one of the finest Bharatanatyam dancers of today, Shri Deepak Mazumdar, who received the first copies of the new release. (Many years ago, Deepak had done his MFA from Nalanda Mahavidyalaya, with Guru Rajee as his paper-setter and external examiner for practicals.) He gave a very warm, moving speech on how much he has learnt from Guru Rajee. Today he runs his own Bharatanatyam institution and is a dedicated dance exponent.
The presence of so many mothers, whose daughters, all students of Nritya Geethanjali, are today, spread all over the world, dancing, teaching, all that they have imbibed from their Guru. They came specially to attend the function, their very presence showed their love and respect for Aunty.
The brisk sales of the new production, under the supervision of Smt. Shyamala Suri, mother of Anupama Rajesh who is now settled in Chicago, whose very positive attitude helped the students make up their minds !
Above all, the presence of the grand Matriarch, because that’s what she is to all of us, Aunty, our Guru-Mother, who has taught us to love the dance form with a passion so great, that it has become an integral part of our very lives. Despite her inclement health problems, she continues to teach, to innovate, to constantly create new margams of Bharatanatyam. To her, dance and music are so deeply woven into her very soul, that she verily breathes and lives her art.
We have yet so much to learn from our Guru. Understandably, the fervent prayer in the minds of all the students that day, was that she may live many more years to teach and guide us, to help us keep a focus on what we learn and to keep this rich tradition of ours alive for future generations.
- Jaishree Rao
