India's first woman MP, who could have also become the country's first woman President

- Talk-Think-Shishir Ramavat

- Morarji Desai wanted a South Indian to be the President. He named the dancer Rukmanidevi Arundel who was hailed with one voice, but Arundhatidevi says: What will happen to my dancing if I become the President?

- Rukmanidevi Arundel

The month of February ended two days ago. This time there were 29 days in February. Every four years, two personalities associated with the date 29 February are commemorated. One is Morarji Desai, former Prime Minister of India. Another is the famous dancer and animal lover Padma Bhushan Arundhati Devi Arundel. Morarjibhai's date of birth is 29-2-1896, while Arundhatidevi's date of birth is 29-2-1904. It is funny that these two were familiar with each other.

Morarji Desai was detained in Haryana during the time when Indira Gandhi imposed emergency in the country. In his autobiography, Morarjibhai gives an amusing account of his daily routine during detention. Read in his own words:

3.00 - Short prayer at early morning rising, Morning: Actions - Natural exercises, alternate shaving and bathing. 4.15 - Pooja, I carried my pooja material in my box with me. I used to worship myself without flowers. I used to recite the Gita during the puja. 5.00 - One hour Padmasana. 6.00 - Walked for an hour and recited Gita while walking. (For the first three or four weeks, I kept the batter in the room.) 7.00 - Milk. 7.30 - Spinning, reading. Spinning Every day I used to spin 1000 meters without fail. Some days, during detention, he used to spin 3000 meters for six hours every day until that month. 10.30 - Breakfast: Cow's milk, fruits like mango, apple and chiku. Sometimes the refrigerator was there to bring and preserve long lasting fruits. Rest for one hour after meals. He would not sleep but would lie down for a long time. 1.00 - One hour chanting of Padmasana and Gayatri Mantra. 2.30 - Reading and Spinning. Respecting my request, the officer on duty brought Ramcharitmanas for me. 5.00 - Evening walk for thirty-forty minutes. 6.00 - Evening meal, milk and fruit. 6.45 - Prayer and padmasana for an hour. 9.00 - Short prayer and nap before falling asleep.'

If a retired man does not have special social responsibilities, then tips on what his diet and diet can be like can be found from this schedule of Morarjibhai! (Yes, rent-spinning is now irrelevant!) Morarji Desai's philosophy of life was simple - 'Take life as it comes.' Living life as it unfolds without long planning. Rukmanidevi Arundel also consciously or unconsciously adopted the same life mantra.

Arundhatidevi means a famous dancer, artist and philanthropist. In ancient times Bharatanatyam was called the dance of Devadasis. Arundhatidevi took the classic Indian classical dance like Bharatanatyam out of the temple, reformed it and gave it great respect and dignity. Arundhati Devi has also got the honor of being the first woman MP of India. In 1952, he was appointed to the Rajya Sabha. In 1956, he again became a member of the Rajya Sabha.

There was nothing conventional or stereotypical in Rukmanidevi's life. His father Neelkanth Shastri was an engineer in the Public Works Department in the British Raj and was also a Sanskrit scholar. His mother Seshmani, a great musician, was a native of Tyagaraj's village. Due to the continuous movement of artists in the house, Rukmanidevi and her seven brothers got exposure to music and art from childhood. Neelkanth Shastri was also an active member of the Theosophical Society, an organization with reformist views. All men on this earth are equal and the root of all knowledge is God-knowledge (self-knowledge) – these two foundational principles of the Theosophical Society. The headquarters of this organization was at Adyar in Chennai. Neelkanth Shastri settled in Adyar after his retirement. His house was frequented by the workers of the Theosophical Society. Rukmanidevi with Dr. A British Theosophist named George Arundel met in this way. George Arundel Theosophical Society founder Dr. A close friend of Annie Besant. Who would have thought that a girl named Rukmani and 26 years older than him

Will George Arundel fall in love with each other and get married?

Rukmanidevi was 16 and George Arundel was 42 when they got married. The bridegroom is a heathen and so old in age. It was natural to get ho-ha in the society. But this relationship proved to be excellent for Rukmanidevi. After marriage she traveled abroad with her husband, meeting several workers of the Theosophical Society. Arundhatidevi's life had not yet formally entered classical dance. A very famous Russian ballet dancer named Anna Pavlova became instrumental for that. He had a show in Mumbai in 1928. Mr. and Mrs. Arundel went to see him. After that, when the husband and wife boarded a sea ship and left for Australia, they came to know that Anna Pavlova was also traveling in the same ship. Devi and Anna became friends. During the journey, Rukmanidevi also learned some steps of ballet dance. In the conversation, Anna said to her: Rukmani, there are so many beautiful classical dance forms in your country of India, why don't you take interest in them? Arundhatidevi started to get interested. He gradually understood many things.

In 1933, Rukmanidevi first saw a classical dance form known as sadhir performed at an event at the Madras Music Academy. Sadhir is a branch of Bharatanatyam itself. Rukmanidevi decided: I want to learn this. Someone said, but it is true that Ali should have started learning classical dance at an early age. You are twenty eight now. Do you want to climb the banks of the paved road? But Rukmanidevi was firm. Not only did he learn Bharatanatyam, in 1936 he also established an academy of dance and music in the ancient Gurukula style called 'Kalakshetra' in Chennai. Now this was his life's work: to remove the stigma attached to Bharatanatyam and give it a place of honor in the art world. Rukmanidevi and E. Another dance guru named Krishna Iyer started cleaning Sadhir. Sadhir's dancers used to adorn themselves excessively at that time. Also, some of his postures were also sensual. Rukmanidevi removed all this and gave Bharatanatyam a very graceful form and gave it global recognition. How great it is to completely dispel the impression that Bharatanatyam is a low level dance of Devadasis!

In 1977, the whole of India saw how devoted Rukmanidevi was to her art. It so happened that in 1977, the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad died a few days before Morarji Desai's Janata Paksha government was formed at the Centre. Morarjibhai wanted a South Indian to fill the vacant chair of the President. The first idea that came to him was Padma Bhushan Rukmanidevi. Everyone applauded his idea with one voice. Morarjibhai called Rukmanidevi and proposed to her. The whole thing was unexpected for Rukmanidevi. He said: It is true that I have experience in the Rajya Sabha, but as the President of India I have to devote my full time to this post. So what will happen to my dance career? Saying this, Rukmanidevi refused to greet Morarjibhai! If she had said yes, she would have also achieved the honor of being the first woman President of India.

During the years Rukmanidevi was a member of the Rajya Sabha, she did a lot of work for animal welfare and the promotion of vegetarianism. His concerted efforts led to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Apart from this, the Animal Welfare Board of India was formed in 1962 under his chairmanship. He passed away on 24 February 1986.