News & Notes

Prabasi Bharatiya Samman in dual domains

French national of Indian origin, Malini Ranganathan, an internationally acclaimed Kathak exponent was conferred the prestigious Prabasi Bharatiya Samman Award by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind on 23 Jan 2019 in Varanasi, for her extraordinary contribution in academics and arts. 

From studying textile designing in Mumbai to donning the cap of a professor of humanities and educational science in France, Malini has kept her passion of dance and music steady and vibrant. Trained both in the Lucknow and Jaipur gharana in kathak from Damayanti Joshi and Roshan Kumari, she learnt Odissi from Mahadev Raut and imbibed the nuances of nattuvangam from her mother.

Fluent in English, Hindi, Urdu and Tamil, Malini has convened and curated events like the International Yoga Day Celebrations (2018) and Namaste France (2016) in Nantes, France. She has marked her name in prestigious festivals like, France in India (Mumbai), ‘L’année de l’Inde en France’ (Paris), ‘India Year’ (New York) to name a few. In 1996, she served as the artistic director of the festival d’été, for Nantes City Council. 

Malini continues to teach dance and often presents papers in international conferences on topics of her interest.

                                                                                                                            Jagyaseni Chatterjee

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