KASARAGOD: Cars, scooters and home appliances are passe. Land and cattle are the in-thing for winners of a raffle – at least for Kannamkai Nadaka Vedi, a theatre group in Kasaragod. The group from Cheruvathur grama panchayat is giving away five cents of land, a mattock, five coconut saplings and seeds of organic vegetables as the first prize for the lucky draw that aims to raise money for its charitable works. The second prize is a cow, while the third prize and fourth prizes are a goat and four hens, respectively.
The theatre group, which is organising the seven-day ‘state theatre festival’ at Kannamkai open auditorium from January 2 to 8, will draw the lots on the last day. “It is the seventh edition of our theatre festival. This is the first time we are selling raffle tickets. However, we are not doing it to organise the festival,” said Kannamkai Kunhiraman, an award-winning actor and the force behind the group.
“Ours is a grassroots theatre group. Around 65% of our members are women. We want to help the poor in our society find a livelihood,” he said. The five-cent plot, the first prize that would be suitable to build a house, is currently owned by Kunhiraman. “If a wealthy person wins the first prize, we hope they will give up the land for a more deserving family,” he said. The money raised from selling the tickets, priced at `100 each, will fund the year-long charity work of the group. A portion of the fund will also go to supporting theatre artists across the state.
During the Covid outbreak, the group supplied medicines worth Rs 2.3 lakh to poor families. Last Onam, it gifted new clothes (Onakodi) to accredited social health activists (ASHA) in the panchayat. “They are an overworked lot but no one notices them,” he said.
Last month, when heavy rain flooded low-lying areas of the panchayat, Kannamkai Nadaka Vedi supplied groceries to 430 families. It also came to the rescue of Snehatheeram BUDS Special School which did not have a uniform. The theatre group distributed waistcoats among all 33 students and staff members, churidars and tops for girls, shirts and trousers for boys. Kunhiraman said they will select five plays from professional theatre groups across the state for the first five days of the festival.