In 1942, when Mrinalini Sarabhai moved to Gujarat after she got married to renowned physicist Vikram Sarabhai, the Bharatanatyam exponent and choreographer found herself in a world vastly different from her own. "She was from Kerala, and coming from a matriarchal society, she was horrified to learn about dowry deaths in Gujarat. So, she created a piece in response to it. She would always say that when she didn't know what to say about it, she would dance it," says Revanta Sarabhai about his illustrious grandmother. In her centenary year, the third-generation practitioner of Bharatanatyam has been touring India with a performance that's his homage to the lady, who not only inspired his aesthetic style but also his approach to the classical dance form.

"What better way to celebrate the occasion than to continue her legacy of using Bharatanatyam to talk about contemporary issues and to reflect on modern society," says the dancer-choreographer, ahead of his performance, In the Shadows of the Gods, in Mumbai, which includes five pieces, each talking about themes ranging from casteism to climate change. "It is a classical Bharatanatyam performance, but unlike your typical pieces which are spiritual in nature, or tell stories from mythology, I am using the classical language to tell modern-day stories," he explains. While some of them have been written by him and his mother and acclaimed dancer-activist Mallika Sarabhai, others are reinterpretations of
traditional narratives.