Google celebrated renowned Indian classical dancer, Mirnalini Sarabhai’s 100th birth anniversary with a doodle on Friday, 11 May.
The doodle, sketched by artist Sudeepti Tucker, illustrates Sarabhai with her signature parasol, standing in the auditorium at Darpana Academy of Performing Arts while her students dance in the background.
Sarabhai was born in Kerala on May 11, 2018 to S. Swaminathan, a lawyer, and AV Ammukutty, a social worker and activist. She spent her early childhood in Switzerland where she was introduced to Dalcroze Eurhythmics, a western school of dance that teaches music through movement.
After moving back to India, she enrolled in Vishwa Bharati University at Santiniketan in Bengal where she studied under the Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. At Santiniketan, she realised her calling: dance.
After graduating from Vishwa Bharati, Sarabhai trained in Bharatnatyam under Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Kathakali under Thakazhi Kunchu Kurup, and Manipuri under Amubi Singh. She also lived in the United States for a short span of time, learning acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Sarabhai met Vikram Sarabhai, scientist and father of India’s space program, and the two got married in 1942. After marriage, she moved to Ahmedabad.
In pre-independence India, the performance arts weren’t regarded as acceptable career choices for ‘respectable women’. Sarabhai challenged this notion.
To impart her learning to future generations and to integrate dance as a profession and avocation in India’s social fabric, Sarabhai and her husband established the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in 1949. The academy has flourished into a learning centre for diverse art forms today.
Sarabhai lived a comfortable life post-independence in Ahmedabad. However, she was disturbed on seeing the inequality around her. This prompted her to highlight the social issues which plagued society in her choreography. Her dance school played a crucial role in raising awareness and helped bring about positive change.
In the rich span of her career, Sarabhai choreographed over 300 dance dramas, most of which had strong classical influence. Apart from dance, she also wrote poetry, short-stories, novels, and plays for children.
The Indian government honoured Sarabhai with the Padma Shri in 1965 and the Padma Bhushan in 1992. In 1992, she was also awarded with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship. The Kerala government bestowed its first annual state award, the Nishagandhi Puraskaram to Sarabhai in 2013.
Sarabhai passed away on January 21, 2016. She is survived by two children, Mallika and Kartikeya, who are accomplished artists themselves.
Sarabhai will always stand as one of India’s pivotal figures in classical dance. She has been instrumental in making dance a well-loved profession, pursued by people of all genders.
Happy 100th birth anniversary, Mrinalini Sarabhai!
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