Sangametra's Friends

Dharmishta and Gururaj are Sangametra's friends whose mother, Gowri, works with Geetha at the Temple of Fine Arts. Dharmishta, whose name means "personal dharma", incidentally was named by Swamiji. Swamiji had another name for Sangametra after she was born: Dharmasamvardhini, which means "the one in whom dharma resides", yet another epithet for the Devi. Gururaj is Dharmishta's little brother, and as you can see he is full of smiles and energy.

Looking Back a Little

This is how Geetha looks like nowadays. She has been teaching Odissi dance all these years but recently she started performing again.

In July this year, we went to Coimbatore, India, to pay our respects at the shrine of our spiritual guru Swami Shantanand Saraswathi. He passed on last year in July. It is very peaceful at the shrine. The shiny black stone in the centre atop the white square marble block symbolises the resting place of our Swamiji who was interred right there in the ground last year. A bluish greenish grey egg-like stone on top of the black stone is the Shantalingam. This consecrated stone marks Swamiji's presence and essence. It is here that daily worship is performed, morning, noon, and night.

Giri and Sangametra always find occasion to pose for a photograph. Right now, they both enjoy painting and drawing. They have started going for Tamil classes. Geetha wants to learn Mandarin. We intend to get the kids and ourselves to learn as many languages as possible.

In Coimbatore, we visited with some close friends who live in the vicinity of the shrine. The shrine there is called Shivanjali. It is a small community in which all of our Temple of Fine Arts projects are located. In the background, dressed in orange robes are Swami Tyageshananda and Girija Ma. Their daughter Swarnalatha is with us as well.

The Colours and Light of Dance

HARI - A BUDDING CLASSICAL INDIAN DANCER
just a week ago, geetha presented her students of Odissi, the indian classical dance in a very well coordinated programme. hari performed a special piece among other dancers. giri did so too, in an item for very young students. this is what hari looks like in costume. hari also plays the violin, as well as being trained by me in drama.


giri performed too - in an extended display of footwork and choreographic patterning that showed the children's understanding of space and movement.


this is swathi, one of geetha's many promising students. her team presented the badya pallavi, an enchanting piece on the alluring musicians of odissi.


amulya is a member of the teja putri - a group young budding dancers with great promise. these young dancers had been presented early last year in a full programme entitled "TEJA PUTRA", conceived of and choreographed by geetha.