Spectacular performance ‘Anubhava’ at AIM for Seva donor appreciation event in Atlanta

AIM (All India Movement) for Seva was started by Swami Dayananda Saraswati in 2001 and it’s Mission is providing a Holistic Education to the Rural and Tribal Children in India by establishment of Free Student Homes (Chatralayas). AIM for Seva has today 101 FSH’s in 17 States in India and growing. Aim for Seva also has started to have their own schools (Vidyalayas) in several states and the school projects are underway and in some cases completed. We have over 9000 children that we support each year and we have impacted many villages and people from the communities these children come from. AIM for Seva is rated the highest rating, 4 Stars for over 6 years by Charity Navigator (a US based charity rating organization).

This year we had a spectacular Dance performance “Anubhava” by Smt. Rukmini Vijayakumar and her team of accompanying artists Dr. Ambi Subramanyam and Rohan Krishnamurthy. They mesmerized the audience of over 400 people with there scintillating performance. We also had 2 youth Vishaka Venkataraman and Advaith Kumar who spoke about their experience when they attended the Global Youth Leadership Program (GYLP) in Dec of 2022. The GYLP is a program that takes US high school children to India to learn and interact with the AIM for Seva children. The Anubhava program was very well appreciated by the audience.  There was also an active fundraiser lead by Eashwar Money and Shobha Swamy and we raised approx. another 45 child sponsorships in 10 mins.

The Georgia chapter has adopted 4 Chatralayas with 144 children and our goal for the fundraiser continues to raise sponsorships for these children and also Support the Local Community. It costs $500/child/year and I am happy to say as of end of October that we raised sponsorships for these children. There are several donors who also support with larger donations towards capital projects like school buildings, medical facilities, etc.  Atlanta chapter is well on its way to raise over $100k for 2023.

The scope of the movement is now expanding to include the construction of integrated institutions that could function as gurukuls in the modern era. The construction for three school buildings, he said, is underway and will be inaugurated in 2024. Built with an investment of about $1.7 million per school, each school is slated to spread across 5 acres of land with the classrooms. laboratories and other modern-day school facilities for 1000 children with separate hostels for boys, girls, and staff quarters.

Very proud to add that since AIM for Seva Georgia Chapter was established in 2012, we are now recognized for bringing high Quality Cultural programs to Atlanta.  I would like to thank Georgia’s Donors for it’s support in the last 11 years & am pleased to say that AIM for Seva is truly turning out to be a “Movement” in Georgia! To learn more about AIM for Seva, please check out our website www.aimforsevausa.org

About Anubhava

Concept & Choreography: Rukmini Vijayakumar

Music Direction and Composition & Violin: Ambi Subramaniam

Percussion: Rohan Krishnamurthy

Light Design: Gyandev SIngh

Production: Sruthi Sailesh

Rukmini’s Talk about Anubhava

“We know and understand this world through our senses. They are our primary sources of knowledge. Within the theater, performers create imaginary circumstances that feel like true experiences to members of the audience. These experiences leave the members of the audience feeling as though they have witnessed something so close to them that they feel emotions rising within, but they do not carry the weight of these emotions home with them. This cathartic experience that audiences enjoy within a theater is called “Rasa” in the Indian tradition. In order to experience Rasa, there must be Anubhava, or an experience of the senses. Ambi and Rukmini come together in Anubhava, a unique performance of 3 movements that will weave stories and experiences for the audience to immerse in.

About the Artists

Rukmini Vijayakumar – Dancer | Choreographer | Educator | Actor

“Rukmini has burning eyes that repeatedly catch the observer’s breath; and she makes those eyes part of the fabric of the dance. She is not just engaging but also authoritative.” The New York Times (2011, By Alastair Macaulay)

Rukmini Vijayakumar is the artistic director of the Raadha Kalpa Dance Company, and the director of Lshva, a creative space for artists in Bangalore. She is the founder of The Raadha Kalpa Method an educational system for Bharatanatyam that is based on the idea of neutrality. Rukmini’s approach to Bharatanatyam is dedicated, rigorous and layered. She has presented her work as a soloist all over the world, including venues such as the Jacobs Pillow festival, Drive East NYC, and the Korzo Theater. Recently she played the goddess of love in ‘Sukanya’, produced by The Royal Opera house, London. 

She has studied Bharatanatyam under Guru Padmini Rao, Guru Sundari Santhanam and Guru Narmada. Her style is greatly influenced by the ancient movement practice of Karanas, (reconstructed by Dr Padma Subrahmanyam). A Graduate of the Boston Conservatory, Rukmini’s process of creation is both traditional and contemporary. She was a recipient of the Jiri Kylian grant for choreography and a resident choreographer at Korzo theater, Netherlands in 2018. Her productions, Nayani, Prabhāvati, Abhimatā, Tālattu and The Dark Lord have toured India and the world. Her more recent work, Turiya, MALA, The Muse, Unrequited and Abducted were created within the contemporary idiom and have been appreciated for their creative approach to the Bharatanatyam vocabulary. She was bestowed the title of Arsha Kala Bhushanam by Swami Dayananda Saraswati. She recently authored “Finding Shiva”, a book that was selected to be a part of the IAAC literary festival in New York. Also, an actor, Rukmini has been recognized for the roles that she has played in a number of Indian Films and Theatre performances.

Ambi Subramaniam – Violinist | Composer | Educator

Hailed as “the new king of Indian classical violin” and “India’s Itzhak Pearlmann,” Ambi Subramaniam has been trained by his father and guru Dr. L. Subramaniam since he was three years old and gave his first stage performance at the age of seven. He has received recognitions including the Ritz Icon of the Year Award, the Rotary Youth Award, two Global Indian Music Awards and was named among GQ’s 25 Most Influential Young Indians in 2021.

Along with his sister Bindu, Ambi runs SaPa, which teaches music to over 35,000 children. He has co-authored over 20 textbooks in total, including India’s first series of textbooks dedicated to teaching the Carnatic violin. Ambi was recently a featured soloist in the background score of the film Sardar Uddham, composed by Shantanu Moitra. He also co-hosts The SaPa Show on Sankara TV, to teach global music to young children across the world. He is a youth delegate at the United Nations for the Sri Chinmoy Peace Meditation group. Ambi has an MBA in Finance, a Ph.D. on developing a global violin technique and an LTCL in the western violin from the Trinity College of Music.

Rohan Krishnamurthy – Percussionist | Composer | Educator

Indian-American percussionist, composer, and educator Dr. Rohan Krishnamurthy is one of the leading voices of Indian classical and cross-genre music in the South Asian diaspora. Acclaimed a “musical ambassador” by The Times of India, he received mridangam training from the legendary maestro, Sri. Guruvayur Dorai, tabla with Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri at the Ali Akbar College of Music, and drum set with Alan Hall at the California Jazz Conservatory. Distinguished as a soloist, composer, and collaborator, Rohan performed with legendary Indian classical musicians and Grammy Award-winning global artists.

Rohan leads The Alaya Project, an Indo-jazz-funk collective featuring celebrated saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan and keyboardist Colin Hogan. The group’s recently released debut album has been praised by Jazziz, NPR, San Francisco Chronicle, and more. Rohan holds a Ph.D. in musicology from the Eastman School of Music and directs the RohanRhythm Percussion Studio with students from across the globe. Rohan is the recipient of international awards and grants including commissions from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Foundation, and Goethe Institute (Germany). He has taught at renowned institutions and his patented RohanRhythm drum tuning system is available worldwide.

– Jyothsna Hegde