March 2023 opened with a couple of phenomenal events at MatriNiketan, Sri Aurobindo Society’s Heritage building in Pondicherry as a part of the on-going Pondicherry Heritage Festival (PHF) 2023.

On March 1, representing the Society and The Brown Critique, Gayatri Majumdar and People for Pondicherry’s Heritage (PPH) curated a poetry evening featuring 18 outstanding Tamil and English poets and participants from Pondicherry and Auroville. In a land of Sri Aurobindo and Subramania Bharati, the event highlighted the enormous talents that Pondicherry possesses as far as poetry and other art forms are concerned. Apart from well-known names such as Dr Sehdev Kumar, Lina Krishnan, Dr Rita Nath Keshari, Buvaneswari G, Anandi Ayun, Dr Beenu Marcus and Palanisamy Sundararasu and others who read their work, the evening also showcased Tirukkuṟaḷ in the original Tamil and their English translations by Sri Aurobindo rendered by Vidya R and Surendhar S. This thoroughly enchanting evening was attended by over 40 people.

The internationally renowned Odissi dancer Smt. Meera Das and five of her students – Sasmita, Priyanka, Bidya, Swarnamayee and Bhagyashree from Gunjan Dance Academy in Cuttack, Orissa, gave a scintillating dance performance on the evening of March 2, mesmerizing the audience. Their repertoire included Jaganatha Mangalam, Nrutta, Bandemataram and Bande Utkalajanani.

Smt. Meera Das praised the environs of the beautiful MatriNiketan and thanked the organizers, especially Bitasta Samantaray, Sunaina Mandeen and Kakoli Banerjee of PondyCan and PPH for hosting her and the magical evening which was attended by nearly 25 people.