Words Inspire Thoughts and Thoughts Inspire Actions (Written-Sukanya Mahadevan, Edited - Sandhya M)

With last week starting off with a homage to Martin Luther King, I paused to think about all the hardships he went through to fight for the equality for African Americans. I was merely a teenager the first time I heard his speech, but his words inspired me to think about his fight and the impact of his powerful words. Particularly moved by his speech, I penned an amateur poem called 'Black and White'.

Years later when I think of his speech, I think about how our art can inspire actions too. The famous Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathi used his powerful words to inspire the people to fight for their freedom and rights. Both these leaders derived their inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, who preached non-violence and the usage of the pen and words to fight. Below is a Shishya Student presenting 'Aduvome'. This is a famous song written by the Tamil poet. He talks about singing and dancing and rejoicing. as freedom has been achieved. He says - Let jus celebrate that we will no more be servants and that there will be equal rights for all who live in this great country. He, is of course talking about India during the struggle for independence from the British rule.

We, at Shishya believe in giving back to the community, and that our craft can be an instrument of change. By choreographing and performing pieces that inspire change, by fundraising for external organizations such as PURE (clean drinking water and education for kids in rural India) or SOFKIN (orphanages in India), we use our art to bring awareness to worthy causes. We also used our craft to raise funds for the CDC foundation by some unique choreographies that brought attention to our selfless frontline workers during COVID. Martin Luther King Jr., nearly 54 years after his assassination, still creates just as much of an impact today. His work did not only give more equality to African Americans, but also inspired other groups to pay it forward. We, at Shishya, honor Martin Luther King Jr., a key figure in the fight for equality and freedom. Let us take our inspiration from people like him and use our art to create more awareness in our community. Let us stand with our motto - 'ART FOR HUMANITY'.