Shanta had not been keeping well with her cold and bronchitis since the Arangetrams of Nitya Muthat and Kannan Rasiah on 14th and 15th August, in Richmond and Yogaville. Despite this disturbing illness of Shanta and the distressing thoughts of Krishnaveni’s departure, the committed trip to Rajasthan was undertaken. Divya Sivasundar (Dhananjayan’s niece) accompanied to dance with VPD and she was an instantaneous hit with the school and college children. The dancers went to Jaipur, Kota, Chitturgarh, Bhilwara, Ajmir, Nasirabad, Fetehpur, Bikaner, Suratgarh and Hanumanpur, Borogram and back to Delhi.

Facing children of all levels and background was a challenge. "It felt like we were getting a million dollar award, when they mobbed us after each session with enthusiastic smiles and interesting questions. What a satisfaction! We have really won their heart. It was a new experience for young Divya, a brilliant Bharatanaatyam dancer, who had a chance to dance 12 successive days continuously with almost six hours of travel everyday."

The crowd varied from 300 to 1500 school children.



"By providence, we had the fantastic opportunity of dancing in an old Shiva temple in Bikaner, attached to the Royal family of Bikaner. Exactly at mid day 12 o’clock, an audience of 200 prominent villagers and a few school and collage students watched us spell bound. It was an experience to be cherished. A learned Swamijee who presided over the event spoke with such poise and piety, it was an elevating experience. We felt that Shivjee wanted us to dance for Him and His ardent devotees. These travel experiences were so varied and enrichening."

BANGALORE SPIC MACAY:
"Again, we took another hectic performing assignment in Bangalore. There were two performances a day from 27th to 29th September. We addressed class one children to Engineering students and the National Institute of Fashion Technology & Design, connecting Panchatantra story in Bharatanaatyam to fashion technology. Deepti Rajesh, another senior disciple was introduced to the audience here and being a resident of Bangalore, she was approached by these institutions to conduct workshops and lec-dem periodically, for the cultural awakening of their students."