Nandalala Seva Samithi Trust held its silver jubilee year celebrations on March 4 at Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore. Awards were conferred on the deserving and books and souvenirs were released as part of the function.
After the welcome address by trustee P. S. Venkatraman, there was a brief on the samithi’s activities by P. U. Aravind. He traced the trust’s origin to Nandalala Siruvar Sangam. He then elaborated on some of their key activities which are child centric — Establishing Mathioli Vidya Bhavan in Hyderabad in 2008; Project Balakrishna at Bangalore; Distribution of scholarships to the deserving and needy; Mathruseva; Annadhanam.
The first event of the evening was the release of the silver jubilee souvenir by Mathioli R. Saraswathy. The first copy was received by S. Santhanakrishnan who while addressing the audience said, “Nandalala Trust is involving itself in a lot of charitable activities by distributing, food and medicine free to the poor. I hope they continue to do this for the next 25 years.”
Akila Ramaswamy and K. P. Swaminathan, J. P. Caterers were given the ‘Pakkuva Bhagyasali awards’. While Akila who runs a catering service at Vadapalani, excels in supplying hygienic food for spiritual functions and to temples, Swaminathan gives a personal touch to his catering service.
N. Vittal, former Central Vigilance Commissioner, said, “Our approach to life is shaped by extreme faith in God. The institution is lighting a candle all over. They are helping individuals to move towards God by way of service.”
He released the book Maruthuvarkural by Dr. Mohan and it was received by Dr. M. V. Achal. Dr. Mohan thanked the trust for permitting him to release his book. He says that in his book he has explained about the cause and symptoms of many diseases in a poetic way. “This will help people to understand about the diseases with ease.”
Following the book release Parijatham Awards were conferred on two children — Prithvi Harish and M. Poornima. Both the children are prodigies of music. The purpose of conferring the award is to popularise the talent of the child. So far the trust has conferred the award on 25 children.
Artist Bathmavasan works (books – Find Count colour – Book No. 2 & 25 Differences within Me & Around) were released by Mthioli R. Saraswathy and the first copy was received by Mark Rathinaraj, contemporary artist.
“We should never miss out on nice things around us. Try to extend your hand towards children who put a smile on our lips. Never let go of opportunities in life,” was what the artist stressed about. He was particular that children should not be given art but they must be provided with essential materials to help art blossom in them. “Create opportunities not art because art is already in them.” This was followed by a cultural programme. Vidhya Deepak and troupe presented a dance. R. Manasvini and party gave a vocal concert.
