Every action has a reaction. If you give a sterling performance one year, it becomes a standard and you will be required to do better next time. Last year a few items attracted a lot of applause. The skit by the middle-aged guys, Mere Samnewale Kidiki Mein… To a lesser degree, the senior couples attempting running-around-the-trees numbers a la Dev Anand. Or, the haunting dance number performed by a group of young Srishti mothers. Thus it was a challenge for the organisers to come up with something better this time. Truth be told, I was a bit sceptical, going by the lacklustre preparatory work. I wished I was wrong. And I was.
First and foremost, I liked the lavish (and deserved) praise of the wonderful job being done by our Manager Beliappa, the handymen, the team of upkeep ladies, and the security staff. These unsung heros (and heroines?) often get tagged to the ‘also ran’ category.
The pandal contractor stuck to the same set of shamiana that he erected last year. Hence, in later years, the shamiana per se in a video clipping cannot help one to identify which year’s programme one is viewing. The mike chap did his homework well this time before he set out for work.
The young boy Gaurav, and Aditi, ably assisted Ms Geeta, who compered the show. (Aditi disappeared after a while to the backstage to get dressed for her own Bharatanatyam dance number). Gaurav took charge of the mike for most of the time and interspersed the programme-announcements with riddle, as the performers got ready. Well done, the team.
Gandhi’s Swatch Bharat was well presented, and it conveyed a pertinent message. The number where children in deep sleep wrapped under a cosy blanket woke up to a song suddenly and started dancing merrily was enjoyable. But when they remained wrapped a little too long before the backstage guy could start the song, I got worried that they might really go to sleep. That was bedtime already.
The tiny-tots, all dressed in white kurta doing a patriotic number filled one’s heart. I enjoyed more their stare at their concerned mothers in front for instructions and prompting. The Kathak dance, a difficult one, was performed with near professionalism. The maiden Bharatanatyam attempt by the mother-daughter duo (Bhagya and Aditi) deserve compliments considering that they associated themselves with the art for the first time during the rehearsals.
Then there was a dance number with teenage boys lined up to the full length of the stage. I can’t recall the song, but I did spot Sriranjini’s son, Sumita’s son, Sarika Kothari’s son, and some more in it. These boys played with verve. Equally spirited was the performance of a dance number by Praveen’s (B-301) daughter, Jyoti Singh’s daughter and two more. Well done girls.
I liked especially the RD Burman song (a difficult one at that to play) which Sreevasta picked to play on keyboard. He did full justice to it. The second one, with Sudha giving him vocal support, was also a haunting old number.
The Rajasthani group dance featuring Sujatha, Ruchi, Sarika, Sumita, Ritika, Poonam, Dr Smita et al, was well rehearsed and executed. Kudos. And the final item of the show by Jyoti Singh, Neodita and Vanitha was a befitting finale.
Mentioned in passing, but arresting in performance, include the violin recital, the skit in English, the Cinderella story with umbrella, the rendition of a song in the Harivarasanam style (the song that is sung before closure of the Sabarimala temple every night), the opening prayer, the individual rendition by Sujata, Ruchi and Sarika’s daughters with their teacher playing background music on keyboard, and a few other items.
And the food? Unfortunately, I am unable to comment on it. I am still reeling under a resolve (the sixth since New Year) after my family re-union when we visited restaurants left, right and centre. Even at that time we had engaged this very caterer to serve food to about 40 family members. We were quite happy.
My only regret, as I conclude this piece, is that I wish that my children and grandchildren were here these days (rather than last month) so that they could have taken part in some of the programmes. One grandson is shaping up as an accomplished pianist, taking lessons from Mozart’s great grand daughter’s daughter (subject to correction), while our younger son’s son is good at oratory. He enacted in his school, with accompanying body language and actions, a condensed version of Steve Job’s famous presentation at Stanford, and walked with a prize. The third is good at sports.
V V Sundaram, B-703
16 Aug 2015
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