Gurubio Namaha _ so goes the adage. Guru-sishya parampara scheme introduced by the South Zone Cultural Centre here has nurtured many arts and shaped many young artistes. Sishyas in various arts demonstrated their talents at a cultural programme organised at the Cultural Centre on Saturday.
The programme started with Veena presentation by Sishyas of K.Malathi, a Guru from Kumbakonam. The students played Vinayaga sthuthi and solo songs. Flawless rendering proved that they have mastered themselves in advanced veena. Next came the sishyas of G.Ramamoorthy, and Guru for Mridangam from Thanjavur. They also demonstrated how to play Thani Avarthanam and in a concert along with other musicians.
This was followed by a gripping drama performance by sishyas of Nataka Ramanujam, a Guru, who was a professor of drama at Tamil University.
The drama titled Karumi dealt with the story of a miser who finally prefers his cash box with Rs 5 lakh to his family. His son loves a girl and wants to marry her.
His daughter also falls in love with a lad. Both of them, along with servants, play tricks to convert their love into marriage.
The audience broke into laughter every now and then when the Karumi (miser) was after his money.
The next drama was a tragedy which dealt with the after-effects of tsunami that killed many and rendered hundreds homeless.
Though an old lady loses her family to the tsunami, she finally pardons the sea like Jesus Christ pardoned his enemies.
Music, dialogues, scenes, and acting proved that sishyas have developed into full fledged artistes, outsmarting even expert artistes who acted with them.
Sishyas of Abdul Halim of Thanjavur presented Silampattam.
Thanjavur glass paintings produced by sishyas of Eswarlal, national award winner, were also on display at the function.
V.Giridhar, Director, South Zone Cultural Centre said that 200 students are taking training in various art forms under Guru Sishya parampara scheme. Gurus are paid Rs.2,000 now and this is going to be increased to Rs. 5,000. Sishyas are also given a stipend of Rs. 500.
A unique programme under the scheme is the training in traditional theatre art from which is given by Nataka Ramanujuam from 2009. Theatre can be a very good alternative for cinema and television. But it has to be nurtured.
Performance by young artistes here gives the hope that given the training, youth will preserve theatre art by their excellent performance, Giridhar said.
V.Varadarajan, president of Friends of South Zone Cultural Centre, Padmanabhan, theatre director and actor, Girija Anandan of Inner Wheel Club, Duraisamy, District Forest Officer, P.Premkumar, Administrative officer of South Zone Cultural Centre, S.Muthukumar of INTACH participated in the function.
