She is affectionately called Rajee Aunty and spoken with reverence by all her students. Rajee Aunty is Smt Rajee Narayan, founder-director of Nritya Geethanjali that has been imparting knowledge of Bharathanatyam, Carnatic Music, Natya Sastra, Tala Sastra and Nattuvangam for many years in India. Smt Narayan was on a tour to US and was in Boston recently where she collaborated with senior teachers in the area and imparted some of her vast knowledge to the students of this dance form.

Her own students who have blossomed under her tutelage include dancers like Anita Ratnam, Shobha Narayan, Anupama Rajesh,Janini, and Jaishree Rao, Jatinder Pal Singh Bansal and many others. While she was here, she totally won the hearts of the students with her mellifluous golden voice and her expert teaching coupled with a ready wit that brought a smile to many a face. Ranjani Saigal,who played host and also learnt dance pieces from her said "," Rajee Aunty's choreography is unique. The dance Desha Muthumari Thillana, that we all learnt was a complicated one,but the group came together and she was truly impressed" The dancer - teachers will perform this at a future fundraiser.

Her life has been extraordinary and filled with experiences that she says have nourished her entirely. As a teacher of Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music for over 45 years, she is also an accomplished choroegrapher. She is also the only one in Mumbai to conduct classes for nattuvangam. She has several compositions in several languages to her credit and has two publications - Nritya Geeta Mala, consisting of two complete margam-s of her compositions for Bharatanatyam, and Natya Sastra Mala.

At a very young age, she started acting and singing her own songs in the movies that her father produced. Some of these were Shakti Maya and Bala Bhakti. Unfortunately, she says "the film archives have been unable to preserve some these films". While her father was still with the HMV Company, she recorded the composition, 'Neraminchakura' in Shankarabharanam raga and Ikana tala. She also released records on story-telling songs for children and some plays which include The Hare and the Tortoise and the Monkey and the Crocodile .

Smt. Rajee started to learn Bharata Natyam from her elder sister, Guru Smt. Neela Balasubramaniam, founder-director, Nataraja Natya Niketan and Smt. K. Lalitha, founder-director, Sri Saraswathi Gana Nilayam. From age 7, Smt. Rajee learnt Carnatic music from her sister, Smt. Sulochana Mahadevan. She performed her Dance Arangetram when she was 9 years old and in vocal Carnatic music at the age of 14.

While in Madras, she started giving public performances and during World War II, she performed for various fund-raising programs, promoted by the well-known social worker, late Smt. Clubwala Jadhav. She has contributed to the war fund for wounded soldiers in WW II and also contributed to charities like the Bengal Famine relief fund.

Her son, Sri Shyam Sundar and an artist in his own right, performs nattuvangam for all the Bharata Natyam performances of her students and also for dancers of other institutions. He is also the stage consultant for the well-known Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai. A multi-faceted personality, he has performed the role of the mahamantri, Radhagupta in 'Ashoka', a film by Sri Santosh Sivan.

When asked what her daily life today is like, Rajee Narayan says "It is more leisurely now. I get up by 6.30 and enjoy my morning till classes begin by 9.30 where teachers come in to hone their skills in Nattuvangam, music and dance. By noon , I take a break and from 2.30 onwards , my students come in to learn till late in the evening. During the weekends I teach the Natya Sastra, the theory of dance. And she concludes “This is what I like to do best and I am happy that I am able to do what I am best at”

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