Our dearest Anitha aunty pens down her experiences with the ever esteemed Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam:

"Sairam. For as long as I can remember, Paddu Akka has been my greatest inspiration. I idolized her right from my childhood. As a youngster, I got the blessed opportunity to witness her programs only a few times like when she would perform for Ram Navami at Kalasaagaram. But, I was so smitten by her that it is safe to say, Paddu Akka became synonymous to 'Dance', in my eyes and other artists of my time, as well as to rasikas all around the world for generations to come. I was so captivated by her creations like 'Ramaya Tubhyam Namaha' and 'Krishnaya Tubhyam Namaha' that, to this day, they remain fresh in my mind. And somewhere along the way, my subconscious self had accepted Paddu Akka as my 'Manaseega Guru'.

Back in Secunderabad, if someone had told my younger self that someday I would get the incredible opportunity to meet Paddu Akka,I wouldn't have believed it. And to this day, the memory of meeting her for the first time, gives me so much excitement and elation, that it's almost ineffable.
I met her for the first time when she came to watch my senior most disciple, Aishwarya Balasubramaniam's solo recital and it was unequivocally the most wonderful moment of my life.
Thereafter, she blessed Bharathanjali with her presence when she came to watch my production Mahadevam Mahasenam Bhaje at Bharat Kalachar. At this juncture I would like to express my immense gratitude to Madhuvanthi Arun who made this happen, knowing how much I held Paddu akka in reverence.
Followed by this, she also graced us with her presence at my productions Natrunaiavadhu Namachivaya and Parishvanga Pattabhishekam. Each of those moments felt like heaven-sent experiences that I will never stop being thankful for. Subsequently she has graced a few of our programs as the Chief Guest. In addition to this, a couple of my young students, Jyothsna and Kirtana had the amazing opportunity to perform as Meenakshi in one of her productions.

Knowing Paddu Akka, meeting her, watching her witness my work, accepting it and telling me that she liked it will always be the greatest validation that I have ever received, much more than any awards or rewards can hope to give. My adulation for her is so well established among the dance and sabha community that my Acharya Choodamani award from Krishna Gana Sabha as well as the Lalitha Kala Rathna award from Lalitha Kala Academy and Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha were endowed in her presence.

And finally, while I am eternally grateful for all the incredible experiences I have had in my life, Paddu Akka's blessing will always be my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."

The picture in this video's thumbnail was taken when Anitha aunty received the 'Lalitha Kala Ratna' award from Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha and Lalitha Kala Academy in Mysore.

Excerpts from Ramayanam (Kishkinda kandam & Sundara kandam): 5:00

Choreography, Nattuvangam and Costume design: Guru. Smt. Anitha Guha
Lyrics and music: Sri.Neyveli Santhanagopalan
Add on music: Dr. P. R. Venkatasubramanian
Vocal: Sri. Neyveli R. Santhanagopalan, Kum. Sriranjani Santhanagopalan, Smt. Gayathri Venkataraghavan, Smt. Nisha Rajagopal
Percussion: Vidwan. Suresh
Violin: Vidushee. Ranjani
Flute: Vidwan. Sruthy Sagar
Chitra Veenai: Vidushi. Bhargavi

Dancers:
Shri Rama - Yatin Agarwal
Lakshmana & Ravana - Pavitra Krishna Bhat
Hanuman - Sathvikaa Shankar
Lankini - Sumitra Subramanian (Daughter & Disciple of Guru Smt. Jayanthi Subramanian)
Sita - Janane Sethunarayanan
Vanaras & Asuras - Saswatha Aishwarya Vignesh, Nivedita Ganeshram, Smrithi Krishnamoorthy, Priyanka Raghuraman, Lakshitha Saravanan, Aaradhana Premkumar
Sugriva - Madhusudhanan (Kalakshetra)


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