Even before stepping into Kamarajar Arangam on Friday, the celebration of arts and culture had already begun on the sidelines. The foyer buzzed with students in costumes rehearsing their final steps, teachers hurried between dressing areas, and parents stood in a corner catching one last glimpse of their little ones before the grand showcase. By the time the auditorium doors opened, every seat had been claimed by eager families, alumni, faculty members and students, for Abhinaya 2026, the 69th anniversary celebration of the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB) Group of Schools. Hosted by the Nungambakkam campus on July 31 and the KK Nagar campus on August 1, the annual event revolved around the theme ‘Kaatrin Mozhi’ (The Language of Air), interpreting the founder Dr (Mrs) YG Parthasarathy’s philosophy of AIR — Accountability, Integrity and Responsibility — through diverse music, dance and theatre performances.
The celebration was graced by Padma Shri recipients and Carnatic musicians Ranjani and Gayatri (the RaGa sisters) on the opening day, while Subhasree Thanickachalam, creative head at Ragamalika TV, music analyst, curator and presenter, was the chief guest on Saturday.
Appreciating the efforts and energy poured into the event, Ranjani reflected, “This is what a community built on commitment, love, and discipline looks like. It is wonderful to see the kind of breadth of activities that the school is carrying and how beautifully all these young minds are shaped and nurtured.”
Gayatri urged students to value perseverance over perfection. “We are musicians, and music has taught us one beautiful but very brutal truth — there are no shortcuts, not even one.” She acknowledged how every song that they excel at was once sung badly with mistakes, but repetition and labour made them who they are today. She added, “That is the real secret behind every excellent thing that you have ever seen and that you will ever see. A missed note, a low mark, a forgotten line — none of this is the end of the story. The only true failure is that you have never tried.”
Dean, director and correspondent Sheela Rajendra explained the significance of the theme. “During this centenary year of our beloved Mrs YGP, it was only appropriate that we chose ‘Kaatrin Mozhi’ and her mantra, AIR. Just as fresh and clean air is important for our very existence, she always believed that these values are equally important in both our private and professional lives.” Nearly 1,000 students were part of the event, including the back-end work of prop-making, voice recording, etc. The students performed musical synergy on wind instruments, dance theatre on the shared responsibility of preservation of air, and moved on to devotional storytelling. The grand finale ‘Navarasa Pavanah’, conceptual dance performance, brought the ancient yogic understanding of vayu (air) through human emotions. While the parents of children from the school’s Nungambakkam, T Nagar, and Siruseri branches witnessed the show on Friday, the show on Saturday was dedicated to the parents from KK Nagar branch.