Johannesburg, Jun 11 (AP) Delhi-based dancer Vallabhi Chellam Annamalai, delighted over 400 delegates at the inaugural evening of the Gandhi-King-Mandela International Conference 2023, held in Pietermaritzburg this week, with a unique Bharatnatyam item.

Annamalai, the daughter of Alagan Annamalai, Director of the National Gandhi Museum in New Delhi, choreographed Bharatanatyam steps set to one of Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajans ‘Vashnava Jan To'.

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Annamalai 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.

“I've been instilled with the Gandhian values from a very young age. I've been a trained Bharatanatyam dancer for the past two decades and I've been extensively performing for the past 15 years," she said.

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“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,” Annamalai said.

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

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.(AP)

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