THRISSUR: While heated debates raging on whether to restore individual awards at the 52nd Kerala School Kalotsavam, the Thrissur native who coined the term ‘Kalaprathibha’ is preparing to move court to get the titles restored.
P M Shahul Hameed was a teacher at the Kaduppassery Government UP School in Irinjalkkuda in 1986 when the then Education Minister TM Jacob announced a contest to name the newly-instituted individual awards at the School Youth Festival.
Hameed wrote down the first five suggestions that came to his mind and dropped them off at the nearest counter. “One of these was the term ‘Kalaprathibha,’ which was later announced as the chosen name at a press conference by Minister Jacob,” he recalled.
The term ‘Kalathilakam’ was selected by poet Chemmanam Chacko.
Hameed said that he was agitating for the restoration of the titles for two reasons
- one sentimental and the other more pragmatic. “Every youth festival, I would go and personally congratulate the boy who won the Kalaprathibha award. It was something that gave me immense pleasure as I coined the term and everyone who has ever won it felt like a son to me. Now they have taken that pleasure away from me,” he said.
He also believes that taking away the individual awards has ruined the competitive edge to the fest. “The participants have virtually nothing to fight for. Earlier, being the Kalaprathibha or the Kalathilakam was an honour that meant a lot in your later life. Now anyone can get an A-grade,” he said. This, he added, was also an injustice to talented competitors.
“Why can’t we have individual champions in arts when you have the same in the sports tournament organised by the same government? Is it because they think that art is inferior to sports?” he asked.
Hameed was honoured by the state government for his contribution to the fest on two separate occasions.
“In 2000, I was presented with an award of Rs 3000 and a ceremonial shawl by the then Education Minister P J Joseph on the sidelines of the fest held in Palakkad. During the 2005 event in Kozhikode, Minister Nalakath Sooppy presented me with a certificate which read that I had coined the term,” he said.