Doesn't get more contemporary than this

[rshankar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIfmI27Nh_Q

[smala]

Beautiful. An artistic poignant and much-deserved tribute to Thimmaka, her spirit, her green thumbs, her tall green children and blessings of Mother Earth.

I wish the government would take notice of such lovely women like Thimmaka and learn something! She deserves awards, no less.

[arasi]

Ravi,
Thank you for posting this, my dance guide! I was taken by it.

How many Thimmakkas, big and small have grown trees, figuratively too--in education, medicine and in other fields! It is good to see them being admired and depicted on stage.

The children today barely have the time or chance to listen to inspiring stories. If the arts bring inspiring stories to them, especially in dance (which is appealing to most children), what a blessing!

[smala]

There is something special about this lady now of 70 years having planted, nurtured her 'children' for over 50 years when she couldn't have children of her own. Thimmaka's work has been known to Green Peace and Environmental activists for some decades now but she remains a humble simple woman of sparse means. The dance dedication and portrayal of Thimmaka as she dug away, tended to a sapling and lovingly heaped earth around, watering and feeding this tender child was chosen for this reason, her extraordinary work of creating tree-lined avenues single-handed, so kudos to the artist Malavika Sarukkai as well in showing the stages.

[Rsachi]

Thanks, Ravi
Grateful to Malavika Sarukkai for presenting this story.

If everyone decided to have trees as children...how lovely!

[rshankar]

The presentation touched me on so many levels, which is why I shared it - from the point of view of being contemporary to the point of being socially relevant, the solid grounding in the grammar of the dance form, the exquisitely arranged music, and the chiselled performance - all leading to rasAnubhava! Ms. Malavika Sarukkai is one of my favorite dancers...and like most of them, a wonderful communicator to boot - through vacana, nRtta or nATya with equal, and seemingly effortless felicity....

[Rsachi]

Yes
I remember her Shakti presentation from two years ago. She could create a mandala by sheer structured steps coursing around the stage depicting the many praakaaras in a temple. And then show the many-handed Durga in an unforgettable way.

[cmlover]

Thanks Shankar for sharing this inspiration.
Yamuna kalyani is very appropriate for the mood and sounds like MS rendering!
Could you share the lyrics if possible?

[cienu]

Thanks for sharing Ravi..
Enjoyed the presentation by Malavika Sarukkai.