Indian classical dance Mrinalini Sarabhai is no more

Indian clssical dance, and Padma Bhushan awardee Mrinalini Sarabahi passed away on Thursday morning. She was the wife of physicist Vikram Sarabhai, father of Indian space program. Mrinalini, 97, was fondly called ‘Amma’. She had an infection which led to her health deteriorating. She was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. Her son Kartikeya Sarabhai, the founder of Centre of Environment Education, and her daughter and noted danseuse Mallika Sarabhai were by her side.

Mallika took to Facebook to share the sad news in a post that read, “​My mother Mrinalini Sarabhai has just left for her eternal dance.”

Mrinalini founded the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for dance, drama, music and puppetry, in Ahmedabad city. Mrinalini married Vikram Sarabhai in 1942. She has choreographed more than three hundred dance dramas and has also written many novels, poetry, plays and stories for children.

Mrinalini was born in Kerala. Her mother Ammu Swaminathan was a renowned freedom fighter and former parliament member. Mrinalini was educated in Santiniketan under the guidance of Rabindranath Tagore. It was here that she realised her true calling. She trained in Bharatanatyam under Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and then she specialised in Kerala’s dance-drama art form Kathakali Guru Thakazhi Kunchu Kurup.

She was the chairperson of the Gujarat State Handicrafts and Handloom Development Corporation Ltd. Mrinalini was also one of the trustees of the Sarvodaya International Trust, and the chairperson of Nehru Foundation for Development (NFD). Her autobiography is titled ‘ Mrinalini Sarabhai, The Voice of the Heart.’