CHENNAI: The bright-coloured lights in the hall kept changing as he switched from one ragam to another. The melodious voice of the musician accompanied by instrumentalists had audience in rapt attention. Musician Sid Sriram was almost the star of the show, until young Rahul Vellal took over with his gamagas and stole everybody’s heart.
The musicians who had come together as part of AIKYA 2018 were accompanied by S Karthick (ghatam), B Shree Sundarkumar (kanjeera), Praveen Sparsh (mridangam), L Ramakrishnan (violin), Leon James and Ravi Shankar Iyer (keyboard), and Mylai Karthikeyan (nadaswaram).
Presented by Global Adjustments Foundation and Myans, AIKYA 2018 saw a line-up of classical songs, represented on the theme ‘Sri Rama Rama Ramaethi’, a popular sloka, and focused on the elements that make a good leader. From songs like Pibare Rama Rasa and Rama Nannu Brovara to Rangapura Vihara and Bhavayami Gopalabalam, the songs were arranged and curated by Sid. “It was really challenging to convert something as abstract as leadership into musical notes. But I am so glad I got this opportunity,” he said.
Launched in 2010, AIKYA, a series of annual concerts, celebrates the oneness of the country through music. The proceeds from the concerts go towards supporting the education of girl children who belong to economically disadvantaged backgrounds. AK Viswanathan, Commissioner of Chennai Police, who was present at the occasion said, “Empowering women is all about respecting, recognising, valuing and also protecting them.”
The qualifying aspects of receiving the scholarship include a score of 90 per cent in class 10 board examinations apart from the aspiration to make it big in life. This year around 20 students received the scholarship. While some of the previous recipients are working in corporate firms, others have become entrepreneurs.
Two artists — Chong Chiu Seen and Gayathri Sundaram — were felicitated for their contributions in the field of Indian culture and fine arts. While Chong is a disciple of DK Pattammal, Gayatri is her granddaughter and the two were awarded with the Outstanding Award for Promoting Culture. ‘India Matters’, a collectible coffee table book with over 100 photographs and text which bring out the different shades of life, culture and tradition within the country, produced by Global Adjustments, was launched by filmmaker Bharat Bala.