Many participants of the National Youth Festival have been floored by Mangalore. The abundant greenery and the sea have made an impression. Barring one case, several of the participants that The Hindu spoke to at Roshni Nilaya and Sanga Nikethan said they were happy with the facilities provided.
K. Divya of West Godavari, said: “Mangalore is awesome. The climate is too cool, Andhra is so hot now. Nature is truly great here, which is rare to find.” She is one of the 15 women from Andhra Pradesh who landed in the city on Wednesday morning. Of them, 13 are participants, one is a group leader and one an assistant.
Ramya Kaumudi from Hyderabad and a participant in the Bharatanatyam competition said the organisation was “beautiful, as of now” in Roshni Nilaya. “I know what it is like to organise such a meet for a large number of people. The hospitality and hosting is nice.”
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She said that as soon as they reached the railway station, they saw a stall with the festival staff who helped them reach the place where they were given accommodation. “So there was no problem,” she said.
She and her friends were delighted with the complimentary gifts consisting of a travel bag, a sheet, a gift box from Mysore Sandal and two books ( Learn to Live ) from Ramakrishna Math.
Swati from Bhimavaram, who will participate in the folk dance and one-act play competitions, said that the arrangements were good. She said: “We have no problem... breakfast was fine, so many varieties.”
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Rajalakshmi, their group leader, said she would like to visit Mangaladevi temple and look around the city.
Sakunthala, who has participated in two national festivals before, said: “They are very cooperative and talk politely. The facilities are good and the hostel bathrooms are clean.”
Shreeja, Jisha and Anusha Rai of Roshni Nilaya said they would escort the participants to the T.M.A. Pai Convention Centre and take them by public bus. From Thursday onwards, they would get the officially-provided buses.
Manisha Patel, one-act play participant, said 15 of them came to Mangalore on Wednesday morning. They started their travel on Tuesday morning and went from Vapi to Mumbai to Mangalore.
In Sanga Nikethan, 350 men from several States had already arrived by Wednesday. More were expected, said Santhoshini Wilson, who was managing the participants as they came to the location. She said they were from four groups — participants of the food festival, Yuva Kriti, young artistes, and the adventure group.