Indian Bharatnatyam dancer enthrals South African audiences with performance on Gandhi’s favourite bhajan

Indian Bharatnatyam dancer Vallabhi Chellam Annamalai. Photo: Instagram/@vallabhichellam

Delhi-based Bharatnatyam dancer Vallabhi Chellam Annamalai delighted over 400 delegates at the inaugural event of the Gandhi-King-Mandela International Conference in South Africa with a unique performance on one of Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite bhajans.

“I’ve been instilled with the Gandhian values from a very young age,” Ms. Annamalai, the daughter of Alagan Annamalai, Director of the National Gandhi Museum in New Delhi, said.

The conference, which was held last week in Pietermaritzburg, focussed on the issues that can be addressed using the principles of non-violence advocated by Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King.

Ms. Annamalai, who choreographed Bharatanatyam steps set to one of Gandhi’s favourite bhajans “Vashnava Jan To”, said it had not been difficult to arrange the choreography, as both her parents were firmly committed Gandhians and so she had grown up with his philosophies.

“When I was invited to perform here, I thought it would be a fitting tribute if I combined both the art forms and present something that would be very relevant at this juncture, so I choreographed this song,” Ms. Annamalai said.

She was referring to the fact that the conference at which she performed marked the 130th anniversary of the incident where young lawyer Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was thrown off a train in Pietermaritzburg Station because he was in a compartment reserved for white passengers only.

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The incident triggered his path to establishing Satyagraha, leading the fight against oppression in both South Africa and India, and eventually becoming the Mahatma.

As the audience marvelled at her dance, Indian guests explained to their counterparts from over a dozen countries what her various hand gestures meant.

Ms. Annamalai is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer for the past two decades and has been extensively performing for the past 15 years.