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TatTvamAsi
19 April 2010, 09:59 PM
Namaste,

When it comes to women and womanhood, there are varying opinions; some interesting, others not so much. Yet, we can all agree that womanhood is best described through examples of exemplary women, whose lives are filled with virtue, principle, and grace; the epitome of SATTVA.

When it is regarding Indian womanhood, two are at the forefront of most Indians' (Hindus') minds; Kannagi and Savitri. There are scores of others such as Mirabai whose devotion is unparalleled or Andal, or Gargi, or Maitreyi, the virtuous wife of rSi Yajnavalkya. The list goes on.

Yet, those pillars of womanhood are examples from bygone times; mere remnants in memory or allegories in esoteric stories that are somewhat hard to encapsulate for today's children. Modern examples of Indian womanhood are becoming increasingly scarce. This is fact when you have the Bollywood imps imitating Hollywood in vulgarity, crassness, and worse, lack of real tradition. This has a damning effect on society and consequently many Hindu girls are swayed by the fickle-mindedness and prevarications of the media.

And, among all this unrest and ruination of culture and the slow degradation of Indian womanhood in the ethos of Indian society, there are paragons much like Savitri and Maitreyi; shining beacons of Indian womanhood and Hindu virtue that set the standard so high that we sometimes forget we are in such a hedonistic and materialistic society after all. Such women bring out what is good in human beings; the tradition that flows through them in their speech, demeanor, intellect, and if I may presumptuously state, their character, is to be inspirational to others.

An example of a modern day Savitri, I believe, is Smt. Vishaka Hari, a debonair and (yet?) profoundly Indian (Hindu) woman.

She is thoroughly involved in the wonderful ancient tradition of KathakAlakSeBaM (discourse through beautiful music). Incidentally, she is a chartered accountant (CPA) who earned the 3rd rank in the All India Chartered Accountancy Exam and was offered highly lucrative positions by various firms which she rejected. She decided to pursue the tradition of KathakAlakSeBaM and enlighten people of the glorious heritage of India and Hinduism!

Examples of such intellect paired with self-sacrifice and devotion to tradition are rare and precious.

Here is a video of one of her "performances":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWSaWiMEVBo&feature=related

*Most of it is in her native language Tamil and there are no subtitles. Yet, language is not a boundary so I suggest everyone listen to it.

Perhaps Saidevo would be kind enough to translate? :D

Namaskar.

saidevo
19 April 2010, 11:12 PM
namaste TTA.

Smt.VishAkA Hari is one of the favourite harikathA exponents in our family. We bought the high-quality DVD release by Moser Baer of her harikathA on 'Sundara KANDam' and 'SItA KaLyANam', costing just Rs.99 apiece, which are available at Giri Trading Agency (http://giritrading.com/).

Here is a list of a collection of her expositions:
http://krsuresh70.blogspot.com/2010/01/vishaka-hari-collection.html

Sorry, I may not be able to devote the time required to listen to and translate her compositions, but anyone doing it, specially in the form of English subtitles to the video presentations will be doing a great service.

Incidentally, she is the daughter-in-law of shrI KRShNa Premi. Her husband shrI Hari is also a CarnAtik music artiste. Here are two links to shrI KRShNa Premi:
http://www.srisrianna.org/srisri_first_html.html
http://srisrikrishnapremianna.blogspot.com/

smaranam
20 April 2010, 09:36 AM
Thanks TatTvamAsi and Saidevoji.

I do not know Tamil, but could understand quite a bit of the pleasurable discourse. She is amazing.

------

The Pancha kanyA have to be on this thread - like sAvitri :

ahilyA, draupadi, sItA, tArA, mandodari tathA
panchakanyA smare nitya mahApAtaka nAshanam

Remembering these 5 maidens purifies one of sins or karma.

Sometimes the list has Kunti instead of SitA , and of course, a book can be written on Kunti's life, as a person, mother and an extraordinaty devotee of Shri KRshNa who asked for misery so that she will always remember Him.

Jai Shri KRshNa