Mrinalini Sarabhai (1918-2016), affectionately known as “Amma”, was an Indian dancer, choreographer, teacher and activist known for the mastery and preservation of South Indian classical dance forms. She is the wife of renowned Indian scientist Vikram Sarabhai, a Padma Sri and Padma Bhushan recipient, and is recognized as the first Kathakali dancer who. Mrinalini reawakened Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Mohiniatam and Kuchipudi in a modern style. She is considered the “High Priestess of Indian Classical Dance” and is the founding director of Dapana Academy of Performing Arts. Mrinalini is also a writer and environmentalist. She died of complications from a stomach infection on January 21, 2016.
Wiki/Biography
Mrinalini Sarabhai was born on Saturday, May 11, 1918, in Madras Presidency, British India (now Chennai or Kerala, India). He was 97 years old. Her zodiac sign is Taurus. She grew up in a family of liberal revolutionary fighters, belonging to the Wadakas Talawad family. Her mother and father were independent activists. Mrinalini attended boarding school for two years at the Dalcroze School in Switzerland. She was later educated in music and painting by Rabindranath Tagore and Nandral Bose at Santiniketan in West Bengal, India. It was here that she realized her true calling was to become a dancer.
Mrinalini Sarabhai, student of Rabindranath Tagore
She received dance training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the United States and returned to India to receive training in Bharatanatyam under Meenakshisundaram Pillai and Kathakali under Guru Kunchu Kurup.
Mrinalini Sarabhai’s Bharatanatayam Guru Meenakshisundaram Pillai
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′4″
Hair color: black
Eye color: gray
family and caste
Mrinalini Sarabhai comes from a Tamil Brahmin and Malayali Nair family. Mrinalini’s mother was her father’s Sambandam partner and later became his wife. Sambandham is an informal marriage practice under the Malabar Marriage Act, 1896, which allows Nair women to have multiple partners from the upper castes – Brahmins, Kshatriyas or Nair families, but from the same family Except for men. This custom stopped around the 1920s.
Parents and siblings
Mrinalini Sarabhai’s father, Subbarama Swaminathan, was a well-known Indian independence activist and a specialist criminal lawyer of the Madras High Court. He also served as the Principal of the Madras Law College. Her mother Ammu Swaminathan was a social activist, Indian independence activist and parliamentarian.
Mrinalini Sarabhai (left) and her mother Ammu Swaminathan
She has two siblings. Elder sister Lakshmi Sahgal is the commander-in-chief of Azad Hind Fauj’s “Rani Regiment of Jhansi”. She is also a doctor and politician.
Lakshmi Sahgal, sister of Mrinalini Sarabhai
Mrinalini’s brother Govind Swaminadhan is a lawyer in criminal, constitutional, civil and corporate law. He also served as Attorney General of the state of Madras (now Tamil Nadu).
Govind Swaminadhan, elder brother of Mrinalini Sarabhai
husband and children
Mrinalini Sarabhai married the famous Indian physicist Vikram Sarabhai in 1942. Vikram Sarabhai established the Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO) and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad, India.
Mrinalini Sarabhai and Vikram Sarabhai’s wedding photos
She gave birth to a son and a daughter.
Old photos of Mrinalini Sarabhai with her kids Kartikeya Sarabhai and Mallika Sarabhai
Her son Kartikeya Sarabhai is a noted environmentalist and educationist. He is the Director of Center for Environmental Education, Ahmedabad.
Kartikeya Sarabhai, son of Mrinalini Sarabhai
Her daughter Mallika Sarabhai is an Indian dancer, actress and the principal of Kalamandalam University in Kerala.
Mallika Sarabhai, daughter of Mrinalini Sarabhai
other relatives
Her grandson Revanta Sarabhai is an actor, dancer and choreographer.
Revanta Sarabhai, grandson of Mrinalini Sarabhai
Anahita Sarabhai is the granddaughter of performing artist, educator, consultant and author Mrinalini Sarabhai. She is the founding director of QuuerAbad, an online platform for the LGBTQIA community in Ahmedabad.
Anahita Sarabhai, granddaughter of Mrinalini Sarabhai
Ambalal Sarabhai was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist who supported Mahatma Gandhi and was Mrinalini’s father-in-law.
Anbalal Sarabhai
Signature/Autograph
Signature of Mrinalini Sarabhai
Profession
Dancers and Choreographers
By the 1940s, Mrinalini Sarabhai had emerged as an outstanding dancer. His Bharatnatyam and Kathakali performances were based on contemporary social issues, sending a message to humanity to check its own behavior and oppose Harmful activities prevalent in society. She connects spirituality with dance. She once wrote,
How many lives were there before
I dance away the passion
my heart
How many flames ignited my body into nothingness
release energy again
truer than life
Curl up into my Atma
For the renewal of every new life
i dance
Will dance again. “
Some of her most popular dance pieces are:
- Manushya (1958) – This was her first popular Kathakali performance with Kavungal Chathunni Panicker; it was the first time a woman performed Kathakali. It received special praise from Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. This is also her first international tour.
Jawaharlal Nehru praises Mrinalini Sarabhai’s performance after her performance in ‘Manushya’, first time Kathakali is performed by a woman
- Ganga – Raising awareness about pollution of the holy water of Ganga in the name of religion. This dance ballet depicts how people are polluted like the Ganges and how they need to be aware of their actions to become as pure as the Ganges used to be without dirt.
- Memory: Shattered Fragments of Eternity – It’s about dowry death.
Mrinalini Sarabhai in Nataraja pose
- Ranmarpur – It speaks out about violence against Dalits.
- Aspiration – It was inspired by the movement against the construction of the Silent Valley hydroelectric project in Kerala.
- Shakuntala – This is based on Western classical music.
She gained international recognition for her choreography with Ballet Folklorico Mexico and received a Gold Medal from the Mexican government.
Lecturer and Founder, Dapana Academy of Performing Arts
In her later years, Mrinalini Sarabhai worked as an Indian classical dance teacher at the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in Ahmedabad, which she founded after her husband Vikram ·Founded in 1948 with the support of Vikram Sarabhai.
writer
Mrinalini Sarabhai has written several books on dance, history and mythology. She has written an autobiography titled Mrinalini Sarabhai: The Voice of the Heart and is an active blogger.
The Voice of the Heart, the Autobiography of Mrinalini Sarabhai
Mrinalini also wrote The Sacred Dances of India.
Awards and Honors
- Nadia Kala Sikamani(1960)
- Mexican Government Gold Medal (1968)
- Gujarat’s first National Dance Award (1969)
- Vishwa Gujari Award (1984)
- Degree in Desikottama (D.Litt. Honoris Causa), Vishva-Bharati University (1987)
- Sangeet Natak Academic Scholarship (1994)
- Kerala’s First National Dance Award Nishagandhi Puraskaram (2013)
die
Mrinalini Sarabhai passed away on Thursday, January 21, 2016, in Ahmedabad, India, at the age of 97 due to gastric ailments.
Facts/Trivia
- In 1994, she was the first Indian to receive a diploma and medal from the International Dance Archive in France.
- She is the first and only woman to be honored with Veer Shankila for her contribution to Kathakali.
- She was sensitive to the environment and many of her dance plays were based on messages to people to stop destroying natural resources. She and her friends also created a group called Friends of Trees.
- Mrinalini Sarabhai’s character can be seen in Rocket Boys, a web series based on the lives of Vikram Sarabhai and Homi J. Bhabha. Actress Regina Cassandra played her role.
Regina Cassandra plays Mrinalini Sarabhai in the web series Rocket Boys
- In 1990 she was nominated to the Executive Committee of the International Dance Council in Paris.
- She served as the Chairman of the Gujarat Handicrafts and Handloom Development Corporation Limited and the Nehru Foundation for Development (NFD).
- She is one of the trustees of the Sarvodaya International Trust, an organization that promotes Gandhian ideals.
- On May 11, 2018, Google Doodle celebrated her 100th birthday.
Mrinalini Sarabhai’s Google Doodle commemorating her 100th birth anniversary
- In Santiniketan, she participated in Rabindranath Tagore’s dance drama.
- Mrinalini Sarabhai also studied sound processing courses in the United States.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education