Meghna Chandra, a student of Neha Parikh, recently presented her solo dance debut (Arangetram) in Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance style at the Amato Center for Performing Arts, in Milford, New Hampshire. She dedicated her performance to the memory of her late grandmother, Smt. Devi Ramachandran.

Meghna started off the evening with a traditional Thodaya Mangalam, an invocation in praise of Lord Ganapathi, in ragam Nattai. The next item was a shlokam 'Kripasamudhram'. A prayer to Lord Shiva, this is from the Srimad Bhagavatha Mahathmya and is a sheer description of Shiva’s beauty and his divine qualities, his divine face, his matted locks, and so on. Neha Parikh's choreography was superb in this piece, and Meghna brought out the bhavam very well. This was followed by the Alarippu. After the Alarippu, Meghna performed the well-known bhajan 'Shri Rama Chandra Krupalu Bhajamana', in ragam Yamuna Kalyani. This brought us to the central item of every Bharatanatyam Arangetram, the varnam. Meghna's varnam was a rare piece, 'Paar Kadalil' in the ragam Keeravani and composed by the late Veena Maestro Balachander. This varnam describes the beauty of Lord Vishnu and the many different mythological incidents regarding Him, such as the Churning of the Ocean and the Lifting of the Govardhana Mountain. The end of the varnam marked the closure of the first half.

Meghna began the second half of the recital with the poignant padam 'Enna Thavam Seydhanai' in ragam Kapi by the great poet Papanasam Shivan. Meghna played the part of Yashoda so well that one could almost feel baby Krishna was right there on stage with her. In the next item, the jaavali 'Ye Raa Ra Ra' in ragam Khamas, Meghna played the nayaki who has fallen in love with the Lord Venkateshwara.. Meghna's abhinaya was excellent, which was quite obvious in both these pieces. Her ability to express is among the best of all the young dancers in the Boston area, and she has Guru Neha Parikh as well as herself to thank.

Meghna then performed a padam in ragam Revathi, 'Kudajaadriyil Kudikollum Maheshwari', an emotional piece on Devi. Meghna moved some of the audience to tears with her bhavam. This song had special meaning for Meghna as Goddess Mookambika is Meghna’s family deity. Traditionally, most Hindu children have an annaprashna, which is a religious ceremony associated with the introduction of solid food grain to a child in a temple. Meghna had her Annaprashna at the temple of Mookambika Devi in Kollur in the state of Karnataka along with her family and late grandmother when she was eight months old.

The final piece of the evening, the thillana, was a composition of Maharajapuram Santhanam, in ragam Sivaranjani. Meghna's skill in maneuvering her feet to coordinate the complex footwork with the nattuvangam and mridangam was very apparent here. Neha Parikh's nattuvangam was commendable and the mridangam support was wonderful.

The fabulous orchestra from India who are touring the US included KS Sudhaman on the mridangam, Sudev Warrier, the vocalist and AP Krishnaprasad on the flute. Sudev is the disciple of renowned Carnatic musician Dr M Balamuralikrishna. Sudhaman started learning Mridangam from his father Sri K N S Namboodiri. Later he received advanced training from Sri M N Kandaswami Pillai. Krishnaprasad began his music education from his father Sri A V Prakash. He later studied under the flute maestro Dr. N Ramani. Nattuvangam was by Guru Ms Neha Parikh.

Guru Neha Parikh was extremely pleased with her student's performance: “In their sincere quest for a good dance teacher, Meghna's parents approached me at the beginning of 2005. The very first day I met her, I knew I would have a great experience with this new disciple of mine. Though she had her initial training in this art form from other teachers, I started off with her with the basics of Bharatanatyam, the adavus, as I felt it was necessary for her to imbibe the Nalanda style of dancing. Just after a month of practice in basic steps, I decided to teach her varnam which is the life and breath of Bharatanatyam. Thereafter there was no looking back. I started teaching her the rasas, or aesthetic emotions, and new items at a fast pace as I had to train her in a whole new margam.

As she is gifted with vivid expressions, my style of dancing complimented her, which demanded excellence in abhinaya. Thus she could imbibe the subtle nuances of abhinaya from me without much effort. I also taught her the intricacies of certain rhythmic patterns. While choreographing items for her, I chose Bhakti as the essence of all items. Thus her Arangetram was sheer delight for the audiences.”

Meghna Chandra is the senior most student of Ms. Neha Parikh. Neha Parikh who has a Master’s degree in fine arts (Classical dance) from Nalanda Institute Bombay University is the founder of Chidambaram Nritya kala Academy a school of classical dance in Nashua NH. She has worked on the critical aspects of dance with Meghna and has set a very high standard in her dance training programs. Neha also teaches Mohini attam.

Meghna is currently in her sophomore year at Merrimack High School in New Hampshire.

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