Same story, new approaches

As the 54th Sri Rama Navami Cultural Festival begins tomorrow, G. Venkatraman, J. Mahalingam and Sridhar Subasri talk about spreading the message of Indian epics and connecting to the younger generation

March 19, 2015 05:25 pm | Updated April 10, 2015 08:28 pm IST

( L to R) Mahalingam, Venkataraman  and  Sridhar Subhasri of Sri Rama Navami Cultural Festival Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

( L to R) Mahalingam, Venkataraman and Sridhar Subhasri of Sri Rama Navami Cultural Festival Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

Every year during the Sri Rama Navami festival celebrations, Hyderabadis, especially Tamilians, gather at Keyes High School to refresh their ties to their roots. As Bharathi Ravikumar makes the announcements in Tamil on stage, the auditorium with a mix of young and old audience reverberates with applause. With a wide panorama of events including discourses, lectures, music programmes, literary and cultural events… the Sri Rama Navami Cultural Festival group helps the gathering to get to know about Indian culture and epics.

This year marks the 54th annual celebrations of the Festival. which takes off tomorrow with a devotional music concert by Bombay Saradha.

The annual cultural festival that was begun by Subasri in the ’60s has since evolved into a unique one. At the first floor of Nagarjuna Fertiliser Office, G. Venkatraman (president), J. Mahalingam (vice-president) and Sridhar Subasri (secretary) recall their journey over the years. “I had moved from Bombay to Hyderabad and was still settling in the new place, when I met Subasri and our association began,” says Venkatraman with a smile. Mahalingam, who came from Chennai and was used to attending such programmes agreed to be one of the office-bearers. While Sridhar, son of Subasri, now continues the legacy, the trio claim it is the fleet of volunteers whose selfless work is the basis for the festival’s success.

“There is a volunteer named Kuppuswamy, who is 80 plus and his enthusiasm in setting the chairs has to be seen to believed,” says Sridhar. Recollecting his growing up years, Sridhar says, “I would be running errands on my cycle and our open house would be buzzing with activities.”

With a crowd of 1000 people, the festival is special, thanks to the illustrious speakers and singers. “We make sure we do not repeat our artistes,” says Venkatraman. Giving an example, Mahalingam, executive director of Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited says, “Our focus is to present our shows in a unique way. Trichur Brothers presented fusion music, so did Sowmya from Chennai.

This year, Gayathri Girish is presenting an audio visual on Shiva temples.”

Adds Sridhar, “Some of the guests are also professionals like Dushyanth Sridhar, an IT professional, who spoke on Ramayana last year. Dr. Venkatesh is a doctor by profession and is one of the speakers this year.

This is an attempt to connect to the internet crowd and help them look at our epics in a different way.”

The festival’s golden jubilee celebrations were a momentous occasion when the events were held for 50 days! “Fifty years is an important milestone for every institution and we wanted to celebrate the occasion in a grand and fitting manner,” says Sridhar. Another special feature are the sessions on Ramayana. “It is the same story but it is told with new approaches and different formats. Our aim is to build values in children and spread the message,” says Mahalingam.

Venkatraman speaks of the challenges. “We are our own competitors and our real challenge is to maintain the status and see that we do not fall in the quality of artistes.” Sridhar says bringing in more youngsters to the venue is also one of the challenges. “Building a new team and roping in the younger generation is on our agenda,” he points out.

The 54th Sri Rama Navami Cultural Festival is scheduled from March 21 to April 4 at Keyes High School from 6.30 p.m. onwards

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