On the occasion of Avarthana's tenth anniversary, I was invited to perform in London. I landed in London on the 8th of July and was greeted by a warm reception committee. This was to the set the tune for the rest of the tour, a trip to Europe, which has left an indelible mark in my heart.

We kicked off the tour at Croydon, London. The audience was a mixture of Sri Lankans, Tamilians & Brits. I and my daughter Vaishnavi Sainath were accompanied by live orchestra and performed a margam . The focal point of the whole evening was the varnam - first number in the usual dance concerts. The crowd was very enthusiastic and showered us with applause. Next on the itinerary was Sweden, one of the most picturesque places in the world. We were to perform at 3 cities in Sweden. Here we were received by Mr. Bent Berger. He is affectionately called by an Indian name, Sopan Dev for he was much influenced by Indian culture.

My daugher and I share our birthdays. We both are born on July 13. This year our birthday was an unforgettable one. Before we got on stage to perform, Mr. Berger announced to the audience, which was predominantly Swedish in the local tongue that it was our birthday, which we were obviously unaware of as we could not understand the language. After a lively performance, just as the curtains were about to fall, the entire crowd stood up and started singing "Happy Birthday to you". This will definitely rate as one of the most unforgettable moments in my life. I was touched by their warmth and hospitality.

Another instance I would never forget is, when we were traveling by road we stopped over for a coffee break at a restaurant. We ordered, had the coffee and left quickly since we were in a hurry. Meanwhile we had misplaced a bag, which contained all the important documents. This we realized after reaching our destination.
Mr. Berger traced the restaurant's phone number, rang them up and they traced the bag at once. Apparently it was at the same place where we had left it, no one had even touched our baggage despite there were more than a hundred people going in and out of the eatery. The bag was sent to us at once via courier.