CHENNAI: The two-day biennial cultural fest of Chettinad Vidyashram School, Maithri, was inaugurated on August 19 with much fanfare by singer Nithyasree Mahadevan. The fest, which is an inter-school event featuring nearly 60 schools in the city competing in 36 events, saw Ganesh Venkatraman, Ashok Selvan and veena maestro R Parthasarathy as chief guests.
Meena Muthiah, Kumara Rani of Chettinad, congratulated the students for their exemplary organisational skills. “This fest is very important, as it’s a platform for students to showcase their abilities and embrace the freedom of expression. All individuality begins and ends with art; so exercise your freedom of expression in all art forms,” she said.
The Principal Amudhalakshmi proclaimed the fest open. Ganesh lauded the efforts of the students and also the teachers, encouraging them to live life to the fullest. “Your teachers and friends are with you, and it cannot get any better. I have a lot of respect for the stage because it gives you a lot of opportunity,” he said, also asking the students to follow their passion as a career.
Both Ganesh and Ashok Selvan stressed on having a positive spirit within the competition. “Life is about experiencing, winning and losing is secondary,” added Ganesh, and Ashok piped in: “Keep dreaming, and someday, you will knock on the doors of where you want.”
Maithri is a two-day event with a variety of events such as spin-a-yarn, creative writing, debate, cricket, basketball and futsal, and also jam making, trailer-making, spoofing, stand-up comedy, etc.
The valedictory function will be held today.