Mrinalini Sarabhai is no more

Remembering musicians of the recent past
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makham
Posts: 112
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 22:26

Mrinalini Sarabhai is no more

Post by makham »

Noted danseuse and Padma Bhushan recipient Mrinalini Sarabhai passed away today morning in Ahmedabad. She was 97.

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Mrinalini Sarabhai is no more

Post by rshankar »

Heartfelt condolences to her family, friends, disciples, and the students and staff of Darpana!

Through her, the tradition of bharatanATyam in Gujrat that began when Princess Chimnabai of Tanjavur married the last Gaekwad ruler of Vadodra, lived and flourished!

vilomachapu
Posts: 81
Joined: 06 Jan 2016, 17:20

Re: Mrinalini Sarabhai is no more

Post by vilomachapu »

She might not have been 97. 87 perhaps. Mrinalini was the daughter of famous Madras lawyer S.Swaminathan and Ammu Swaminathan. She had as her siblings Capt Lakshmi of INA of Subhas Chandra Bose and Govind Swaminathan a famous lawyer of Madras. She married space scientist Vikram Sarabhai. She learnt dance from the legendary Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai, staying in Pandanallur n Tanjavur disctrict. She set up her own dance institute Darpana in Ahmedabad. Sadly we did not get to see her in Madras at least in the last 20 years at least.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Mrinalini Sarabhai is no more

Post by arasi »

Her daughter Mallika Sarabhai continued in her mother's footsteps. In the eighties, I saw her and her troupe dance at Vassar College. She gave a powerful performance, bringing legendary women to life...

I'd think Mrinalini would have been in her nineties...

Ramasubramanian M.K
Posts: 1226
Joined: 05 May 2009, 08:33

Re: Mrinalini Sarabhai is no more

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Mrinalini lived a glorious and dignified life--long before she got married to Vikram Sarabhai(Forumites correct me if I am wrong about her overseas trip predating her marriage),she had toured Europe with her dance troupe and won lots of accolades from the western audience. her daughter as Arasi has pointed out followed her mother in her footsteps. She must have been in the nineties--one of the singers MR. Vaidyanathan(known as Kulla Vaidyanathan of Bombay because there was another Vaidyanathan) sang for her during the tour to Europe ( he was from the Swathi Tirunal academy in Tiruvananthapuram recommended to Mrinalini by Semmangudi Mama).Vaidyanathan taught my sister a number of songs of Swathi Tirunal and I recall him acknowledging how generous she was in compensating the accompaniments(she had not been married to Sarabhai yet and although reasonably well-to-do was not as rich as the Sarabhai family--the point being how magnanimous she was in the matter of artistes' remuneration!).

It must also be pointed out that Mrinalini was responsible for popularizing the Pandanallur style in Bharata Natyam which in those days was dominated by the Vazhuvur tradition (Kamala,Radha/Anandhi).

One of her ardent admirers was the late Homi Bhaba--the Atomic Scientist--so was Vikram and the tattle-tale in those days was that she picked Vikram over Homi and it was rumored that that was one of the reasons for Homi Bhabha remaining a Bachelor!!! This is not to be salacious but to point out how genuine -- art lovers the people of that stature were - despite the preoccupation and achievements with their own professional lives.

prashant
Posts: 1658
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:01

Re: Mrinalini Sarabhai is no more

Post by prashant »

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:one of the singers MR. Vaidyanathan(known as Kulla Vaidyanathan of Bombay because there was another Vaidyanathan) sang for her during the tour to Europe ( he was from the Swathi Tirunal academy in Tiruvananthapuram recommended to Mrinalini by Semmangudi Mama).
This wonderful gentleman is very well known in Mumbai circles as "London Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar". A most enchanting personality, still to be seen walking by himself to the temples in Chembur ramrod straight and alert. I have heard several of his concerts growing up in Mumbai, and he was indeed a fantastic singer with a deep and eclectic repertoire going well beyond the SSI school hits.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Mrinalini Sarabhai is no more

Post by arasi »

Prashant,
Thanks for your post :)

It's good to hear about musicians who support (ed) the arts with their contributions and remain (ed) unknown to the public.

maduraimini
Posts: 477
Joined: 22 Sep 2009, 02:55

Re: Mrinalini Sarabhai is no more

Post by maduraimini »

Sad to hear about the dancr. She must be in her nineties or atleast nearing 90. She brought our dances to the West . Her daughter Malika also followed her mother and spread our culture to the Western world. . Condolences to the family.

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