THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Naveena Samskarika Kala Kendram (NSKK), a Hyderabad-based organisation, has completed 50 years of promoting Malayalees’ art and culture among outstation Keralites.
The NSKK’s efforts are all the more laudable since Malayalees have a tendency to even forget the legacy left behind by legendary writers and artists, besides remaining unmindful of the decline of Kerala culture.
It was from a nondescript reading room at Fathenagar near Balnagar in Hyderabad in 1967 the NSKK started out with the aim of becoming a socio-cultural and educational institution committed to promoting Kerala’s art & culture. Barely a decade later in 1978, the NSKK began its foray into the educational field in 1978 by establishing a school with 250 students.
An IPS officer P V Pavithran was the chairman of the school which mainly catered to students from indigent households, especially, the children of industrial workers in Balnagar. H K Babu, the then District Collector of Ranga Reddy district, had backed Pavithran in the venture.
NSKK institutions now offer education at three centres - NSKK Pre-Primary & Pre-School, Fathenagar (child-friendly premises), NSKK High School, Ferozguda (a 2 acre campus) and NSKK High School & Junior College, Gagillapur (a 10 acre campus).
E Vipinan, NSKK secretary, told Express the NSKK School had grown into a 3,000- student strong institution with a staff strength of 200 members. He said the NSKK had the privilege of introducing K J Yesudas to Hyderabad for the first time way back in 1971. It had also hosted the World Humour Conference in 1985, a three-day festival attended by prominent personalities like VKN, Veloor Krishnan Kutty, J Lalithambika , Anandakuttan,and Sukumar.
The NSKK’s ‘Kerala Kala Vedi’ was inaugurated in 2000 in the presence of artist M V Devan, novelist Punnathil Kunhabdulla and P T Narendra Menon.
In 2003, the NSKK had organised ‘Keralotsav’ a three-day festival, in association with the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department. The Kendram has several firsts to it credit - a Snake Boat race in the Hussain Sagar Lake, the fist time the race has been held outside the state, and the Soorya Dance Festival’s maiden Hyderabad edition in 2012.
The NSKK also has a cultural wing to impart training in traditional art forms like kathakali and mohiniyattom. Besides, it conducts classes in Malayalam language for interested.NSKK members.