Mrinalini Sarabhai was born in Kerala on May 11, 1918, into an illustrious family of freedom fighters. Her father S. Swaminathan was a lawyer and mother Ammukutty was a Gandhian. Her older sister, Lakshmi Sehgal, served as the captain of the Rani of Jhansi regiment of the Azad Hind Fauj. Mrinalini married Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme.
Her son Kartikeya is an environmentalist, while daughter Mallika is a noted dancer and activist.
Mrinalini learnt Western dance in Switzerland where she spent her childhood. She began her traditional training at Rukminidevi Arundale’s Kalakshetra in Chennai. She later trained at Shantiniketan with Rabindranath Tagore. Thereafter she trained in Manipuri, Kathakali, and Mohiniyattam dances. She also learnt dance in Java and acting in USA. Her mentor was the Bharatanatyam exponent, Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai.
Mrinalini set up the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in Ahmedabad in 1949 with her husband. It provides training in dance, drama, music and puppetry.
She was also involved in reviving Gujarati handlooms and establishing organisations promoting women’s welfare, Gandhism and environmentalism.
Her immense talent and contribution to the arts earned her the Padma Shri in 1968, the Padma Bhushan in 1992 and the Kalidas Sanman in 1996, among several other honours.
Fondly known as Amma, Mrinalini was a prolific writer. She authored 35 books including many novels, poetry, plays and stories for children. Understanding Bharatanatyam is an important work on the classical dance form. Her autobiography is titled, Voice of the Heart.