Wanting to revive her mother’s initiative, Jayashree Kannan, a resident of Kasturba Nagar in Adyar will be inaugurating Children’s World Academy on November 16. The organisation was founded by her late mother Saradha Natarajan at Coimbatore in 1979 to commemorate the International Year of Children declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. “My mother was an accomplished Carnatic vocalist and she always felt that budding talents should be given opportunities to perform on stage and Indian forms of art should be preserved,” says Jayashree Kannan.
“In Coimbatore, my mother used to organise nearly five to six concerts in a year and conduct music, dance and drawing competitions on Children’s Day.” She had released a book titled Sangeetha Baala Paadam in Tamil, for children, which dealt with lessons in Carnatic music. “After her demise in 2010, the forum became inactive. Now, I want to take forward my mother’s organisation in Chennai and cherish her passion for art and her interest in teaching,” says Jayashree Kannan.
Like her mother, Jayashree Kannan will be organising classical music and dance concerts. Competitions, lecture-cum-workshops on Indian forms of art will be conducted as well.
“Participants need not pay fee in any form but they will be screened and given an opportunity,” she adds. The Kasturba Nagar Residents Association has promised to offer its support to the initiative by providing its community hall. The inauguration is on November 16 at the community hall in Kasturba Nagar Residents Association, No: 5, Third Cross Road, Adyar. To know about the procedure of participation and other details mail to jsriknan@gmail.com vckannan@yahoo.com or cwaoffinearts@gmail.com. Jayashree Kannan can be contacted at 98418 16134.
