KOCHI: Shocked at the devastation unleashed by the recent floods, a group of performing artists under the 'Artist Club of Kalabhavan' banner will launch a 30-day sojourn on Wednesday to encourage people to contribute to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF). The Programme will start on September 19 and conclude in Kasargod on October 18.
The sojourn, christened 'Hridayapoorvam Janmanadinayi' will start from Kalady Sri Sankara College and will traverse the length and breadth of the state and stage hour-long entertainment programmes at five places per day. Roji M John MLA will inaugurate the programme at 10 am on Wednesday."As performing artists, we have a responsibility to stand with the people at the hour of crisis. The aim of the programme is to encourage people to contribute to the CMDRF and create awareness on the precautions to stop epidemic outbreak. We are organising the programme with the consent of the Chief Minister's Office.
"Many artists, including film stars, have expressed their willingness to associate with our programme. They will join us in the stage performance at various locations," programme coordinator Kalabhavan Ranjeev told Express.Kalabhavan Biju, Joby Pala, Kalabhavan Rajesh and Naveen Raveendran are the other members of the team.
Apart from the team members, artists from each locality will perform at various places according to the schedule. However, the team will not collect contributions to the CMDRF directly."We will not collect money from anyone. The travelling stage has been sponsored by Manappuram Finance. We will bear all other expense. We will display the bank account number in which contributions can be deposited. Around 150 artists have expressed willingness to join the programme," he said.