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Of the many things that have happened in the last week - from signing important business deals to opening the Ishana store in the New Delhi airport to launching Linga Bhairavi temple projects in two centers to finalizing Adi Yogi Alayam plans and other various construction projects - one event stands  out for me. The 23rd of Feb 2011 , Wednesday, will remain etched in my memory for always. I can share this unabashed as our lives have always been so public during the last two decades. My daughter Radhe grew up in this challenging atmosphere where there is hardly any line between what is private and public. Living a near nomadic existence from her infancy, she learnt to enjoy unfamiliar situations and people.

Vijji, my wife, longed to be a dancer but never had that opportunity as a child and after she became my wife, I arranged for a dance teacher in Mysore. She went for it with great passion, but alas, we had to constantly travel and her dance lost more than a step.

Over 23 years ago, Vijji and I visited Kalakshetra in Chennai and imbibed the exuberant atmosphere of music and dance. Vijji wished that if we ever had a girl, she should come here. I said ‘let it be so’ as I had no intention of having a child and such a need did not exist in me. But over 20 years later, Radhe passed out of Kalakshetra and here, in the electrifying ambiance of the Bhairavi temple, she hit the stage. As she was rendering her last piece, the sky opened up and poured but she continued to dance – an enchanting moment it was.

Her mother is not here, but anyways, she would have died of joy at that moment.

Since then, every evening has been a scintillating performance as a part of the Yaksha festival. Guests are beginning to arrive for Mahashivarathri, a night-long fest. Over a million people are expected. The air is electric with expectation and joy.

Too much happening for one life.

Bliss and Bliss.