Rich fare in store for Malayalam fete

Children of the Jawahar Bala Vedi stage a flash mob in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday to announce the Viswa Malayala Sahityotsavam scheduled to begin on October 30. Photo: S. Mahinsha

The city got a taste of what awaits it during the three-day Viswa Malayala Sahityotsavam when a group of children from the Jawahar Bala Vedi staged a flash mob around 11 a.m. here on Monday.

The children, numbered 51 in accordance with the number of Malayalam alphabets, took passers-by by surprise, but as they took centre-stage with songs that were themed on communal harmony and the importance of Malayalam, it was a 20-minute feast for the crowd that gathered around, cheering the young ones.

Flash mob

The flash mob was one of the various programmes to be staged to drum up publicity for the event that will begin on October 30.

The event will have a variety of seminars and literary discussions at four venues at the Kanakakkunnu Palace and the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium.

To be held in different sessions at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., the seminars will have art, literature, culture and media as topics of discussion.

The first day’s seminars at Kanakakkunnu, will include one on cinema chaired by film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan while there will be another one with noted media personality Sashi Kumar speaking on modern trends and culture in the world of media.

Various other seminars on language, folk art, culture and children’s literature among other topics will be held on the day.