Tamil meiyam

The 5 day Pongal festival was inaugurated by the CM M Karunanidhi amidst much fanfare and show. The organisers have taken great efforts to bring rural folk artistes from all over Tamilnadu to present and rekindle the culture and glory of Music and arts that is widely prevalent in this part of South India.  The CM calls it a Dravidian culture and rightly it deserves its due importance in the sphere of music and dance.  I had the opportunity to watch the performers doing traditional dance to the beats of drums at the Elliot's beach.  The show was witnessed by hundreds of people who had gathered either to enjoy the holiday and the sea breeze or for taking a stroll across the beach for fitness!  I could hear the organisers appealing to people to come and patronise the show in numbers and thus encourage the rural artistes who were performing the traditional dances showcasing the culture of Tamilnadu.  There were more than 5 centres all over Chennai where these artistes performed taking turns.  One thing which came to remain in the minds of people is that the performing artistes gave preference to drum beats than music as all the movements and acrobatic manoeuvres were revolving around the noisy drum beats!  These sounds of drums can not be heard for a very long time as it tires the ears and makes a person drawn out of energy!  The organisers could have decorated the stage in a better manner.  The bamboo sticks and other wooden planks were all seen underneath the stage which made me feel as if we were still in the 1980s! Stage decoration and presentation is an art and constitutes an important parameter of any programme.  Probably, the organisers were reluctant to decorate the stage fearing IT probe as the organisers are under the scanner of the department in respect of the 2 G spectrum scam!  Tamil Meiyam deserves compliments for refreshing the memory of Dravidian's to understand their own culture which is otherwise lost amidst the noise and tantrums of western Pub culture that is overpowering!!