Kalki Krishnamurthy’s birthday was celebrated at Raga Sudha Hall recently. Siddharth Varadarajan, Editor, The Hindu who presided over the function, gave away the Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Award to nagaswara vidwan Vyasarpadi Kothandaraman.
Welcoming the gathering, Venkatesh, Editor, Kalki, said that the works of Kalki inspired many to venture into the world of literature. Kalki wrote with a social responsibility, the welfare of mankind in focus.
Siddharth Varadarajan at the outset said it gave him a great deal of pride to participate in the day’s event. Of Kalki he said that his loss had left a void that had not been filled even to this day. Kalki understood that literature or art had to touch the lives of the people and thus could not afford to be abstract. Kalki also fought to liberate the people from their backwardness and obscurantist beliefs. Credit should go to Kalki for his efforts to accord Tamizh isai its rightful place in concerts at all sabhas, including the Music Academy. It was therefore appropriate that a nagaswara vidwan was given the memorial award on the birthday Kalki, he remarked.
Vyasarpadi Kothandaraman, the shy and reticent awardee, said the award raised the bar and he had to scale new eights.
Kalki Rajendran honoured those present on the stage. Seetha Ravi compered the event with competence, sprinkling her lines with Kalki’s quotations and extracts from his writings.
Vyasarpadi Kothandaraman treated the audience to a wonderful concert, his nagaswaram offering resonant music rich in melody.
(sivakumar2004@gmail.com)
