All over the world – Chicago, California, Illinois, Dubai, New Zealand…

In Mumbai, 28th September 2009 marked a grand celebration of Dussera for the students of Guru Rajee Narayan. The students performed to a vast and enthusiastic audience this year; the SIES Hall was packed to full capacity. The inspiration behind the success of the event and the driving force was, of course, our beloved Guru, who, despite the heat of the noon, maintained her composure, whilst directing the dancers.

After the puja, the different groups of dancers presented their dances. The tiny tots were eager to perform and didn’t want to stop performing, even after their turn ! The first three groups performed select dances from the Deva Bhakti Desa Bhakti collection. The next three groups of dancers performed popular padams. The seniors presented Devakitan as a mini dance drama, to a highly appreciative audience. Guruji requested Mr. V. S. A. Sury, Secretary, Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha, to release DASAVATHARAM Audio CD. He presented the first copy to Gayatri Subramanian, Director of Takshashila Dance Academy and devoted disciple of Guruji.

There were many new admissions for both Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music. Guruji started their first lessons. At the same time, several of her senior disciples who are spread all over the world, had their own celebration of this event, for their students. Shoba Narayan in Cleveland, Ragini Iyer in Redlands, California, Anupama Rajesh in Illinois and the latest addition, Shailaja Sridharan, in New Plymouth, New Zealand. Closer home, Mala Murli in New Delhi started teaching yet another batch of students. Aishwarya Ramani started her branch of Nritya Geethanjali in Bangalore. With many new projects in the pipeline, Guruji continues to inspire yet another generation of young dancers.