Balotsav-2016, the 25th annual inter-school cultural festival for Telugu children, got off to an exhilarating start with the young mountaineers - T. Sukipriya and E. Tejasri formally inaugurating the four-day national-level event amid festive atmosphere in the coal town of Kothagudem.
Sukipriya and Tejasri, who scaled the 17,000-feet Mount Renock in the Himalayan range last year, were cynosure of all eyes at the grand opening ceremony of the four-day cultural fete being held on the premises of the Kothagudem Club.
Inspiration
The duo, students of the Tribal Welfare Residential Schools of the Bhadrachalam Agency, gave a clarion call to the participants of the cultural fete to set high goals and strive with untiring perseverance to realise them by following the footsteps of former President of India late APJ Abdul Kalam.
They narrated their successful expedition to the Mt. Renock by surpassing various barriers with the support and encouragement of the officials and teachers concerned. Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) Director B. Ramesh Babu hailed the Kothagudem Club for its persistent efforts to promote innate talents among schoolchildren and organising the 25th annual Balotsav in a grand manner.
Telugu language
The other speakers at the inaugural ceremony appreciated the Kothagudem Club secretary Vasireddy Ramesh Babu and other members of the organising team for fostering the rich Telugu literary and cultural heritage by conducting various competitive events in Telugu language as part of the annual Balotsav.
Noted Telugu literary personalities including Nandini Sidha Reddy, Ande Sri and Jayaraj were among those present on the occasion.
Scintillating cultural programmes amid jubilant atmosphere marked the inaugural fete. The sprawling premises of the Kothagudem Club came alive with thousands of schoolchildren representing more than 264 schools from various States including Telangana and Andhra Pradesh thronging the venue of the Balotsav-2016 on the inaugural day. Competitions in a diverse range of literary and cultural events including spot drawing, short film review, elocution, Kuchipudi, and Bharatanatyam were conducted on the first day of the children’s fete.
