Kartik Fine Arts Fest opens on Karthikai Deepam
It rained in Chennai on on December's first day. After a break in the monsoon that has been scanty in these parts.
And December 1 was Karthikai Deepam.
What a day to start a fest.
Kartik Fine Arts' December Season got off to an auspicious start at the Narada Gana Sabha hall. Opening evenings aren't great events of the season.
But there were two distinct groups present in the hall.
Artistes and well wishers of the awardees and team members behind the guest of the event - union minister for information and broadcasting, S. Jagatrakshagan.
Mascon Global, a sponsor with bank of India, had some ideas to share on how the season could go international.
Its senior exec said - let sabhas network and present a packaged fest, use new technology to communicate to the world and reach out to the rasikas on the borders.
The stars of the evening were - violinist R K Sriram Kumar who hails from the illustrious Rudrapatnam artistes' lineage and has himself done a lot beyond just playing at concerts. This evening, he looked as he always does, a pious yogi.
Alongside, was dancer Mythili Prakash ( whose base was Los Angeles) in her best Conjeevaram. Mythili is considered the be the most exact and highly energetic Bharatanatyam dancer.
Two deserving awardees. Also honoured this evening was Rm. V. Velayappan, head of the Pollachi Tamil Sangam for his services as an organiser.
Felicitating them was senior vidwan T. N. Krishnan. Krishnan always has something to say in his inimitable humorous style. He did. And he also seized the moment to tell the union minister that he needed an appointment with him in Delhi for a reason. Though AIR has done a lot to promote classical music, there was lots more that must be done.
The minister played with his knowledge of poetry, epics and song with anecdotes he had picked up along the way but the speech wasn't dull. It was long though.
But Shriram Kumar was a disappointment when it was his turn to talk. He was again the pious yogi at the podium, radiating in the innocence of this moment.
The event ended with a dance melange presented by S. Ramamurthy and Manjula Ramaswamy of Sri Ramanataka Niketan, Secunderabad.
The rain had stopped by then. Time to have a steaming cup of coffee at the popular Woodlands eat-out on this campus.
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