Pichai marks I-Day with Google doodle showing Indian dance forms

Google Doodle celebrating Independence Day 2021. Photo: IANS

As India celebrated its 75th Independence Day on Sunday, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai took to Twitter, thanking Kolkata-born artist Sayan Mukherjee for a beautiful Doodle that illustrated diverse forms of traditional dance performances.

"Happy 75th Independence Day, India! Wishing everyone a safe and happy celebration:) Many thanks to our guest artist Sayan Mukherjee for this year's beautiful Doodle," Pichai posted.

The Google Doodle depicts the classical tradition of Bharatnatyam on the far left which is an ode to the oldest Indian dance style with origins stretching back 3,000 years in Tamil Nadu.

"Depicted third from the right, the masked reenactments from Indian epics known as Chhau dance have origins in the eastern state of Jharkhand, the Purulia Chau, and the Seraikella Chau regions," Google said.

Mukherjee said that when he was approached to work on the doodle, he started thinking about India's rich heritage, culture, tradition and so on.

"Since India is such a vast country with such a diverse population there is only one thing that holds all of us together and that is our unity in diversity. I tried to capture that from the Doodle," he noted.

"I have used different Indian dance forms to show the diversity of the country and coming together seamlessly on a stage performing. That shows the unity among each other being different. It is the unity of India which is holding us all together strong. I hope people take that from the Doodle," said Mukherjee.