What does it take to ensure that our society values the richness of Indian culture? For starters, spreading awareness and creating opportunity for people to witness traditional folk dance and music, can go a long way in safeguarding and promoting our rich cultural heritage. With this mission, The Master Class, a meeting point for unconventional thinkers, along with the Centre for Creative Learning, is hosting a traditional event to showcase the performing arts of Tamil Nadu.
Aravind Vivekanandan, of The Master Class, says that the event brings together three art forms on one platform. There will be Kalari and Silambam expert Ganapathy M; Team Nimirvu Kalaiyagam (TNK, founded by Shakthi) to perform Parai; and an engineer-turned-yoga exponent Prabhakaran Karunamoorthi to talk on the subject. “Each of them will speak for 15 minutes, interact with the audience and proceed to perform their art,” says Vivekanandan.
RJ Meena of FM Rainbow and Muthamizh Bharathi, members of TNK, will speak about their experience and also perform with their eight-member team. TNK also teaches Parai to those interested in the art (8608179437). “The TNK team comprises of young professionals, both men and women, from Chennai and Coimbatore. Ganapathy is also a trained theatre artiste who has been with Koothu-P-Pattarai. Prabhakaran Karunamoorthi, on the other hand, had been in the IT industry, and joined as a volunteer in Teach for India and later focussed on yoga, which is his passion,” says Vivekanandan. The yoga exponent is now working on developing an app for NGOs, to bring them all under one platform.
The Master Class is organising this cultural event to coincide with the Pongal festival. Entry to the event is priced at ₹300, but one can bring along another person who cannot afford to buy the passes, along with them.
Think out of the box
Launched in May 2017 by a group of 40 people from the corporate sectors in Chennai, The Master Class aims to target IT employees who are caught up with their jobs, and unable to pursue their passions or hobbies. Every month, they organise a masterclass, where they bring in talented people who have shown the world a different path either through their creativity or leadership. Inspiring and motivating the participants to learn from the speakers, who have faced similar struggles but have taken the right steps at the right time, is the idea behind these sessions.
