THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Adorned in bright costumes and holding vivacious expressions, the beautiful bride and her friends, who competed in the Oppana section from the Attingal Boys Higher Secondary School, Neyyatinkara were a treat to watch. It was a double delight as it was the first time that a team from the school is participating in ‘Oppana’ at the district level. Once a traditional folk dance during Muslim weddings, Oppana has evolved into one of the most popular events at arts festivals.
Adorned in traditional jewels, the young brides are the centre of attention. Their palms and feet are decorated with beautiful mehndi patterns as they sit with a shy smile while their friends wear white Kachi, the traditional costume of Muslim women.
Ten boys from Attingal Boys HSS participated in the event. “This is the first time the team is participating at the district level. I have been a teacher of Oppana for ten years and have taught many students Oppana and Mappila Pattu. It was the dedication of the students which made me want to train them for the kalolsavam,” said Jabir Palathumkara, a trainer of Oppana from Kannur. He has also taught the traditional dance form to students in the state and district level competitions held in Kannur, Kozhikode and Thrissur. Jabir was trained under his guru, Munir Thalassery.
Besides training school students in ‘Mappila pattu’ and ‘Oppana’, he has also conducted several stage programmes. On this year's Kalolsavam, he said, “Due to the floods, the CBSE kalolsavam was cancelled. This has been a huge blow for many schools,” he said. The students were equally determined to prove their excellence.“Although we ended up second in the sub-district level, we gave an appeal to participate in the district level as we wanted to prove our mettle,” said Hiba Shajahan, a Class XII student.