Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

School fete sees a stormy day

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ongoing 49th Kerala School Kalotsavam had a VIP visitor on Saturday.

The Chief Minister and his cavalcade came blaring to the main venue at the Putharikkandam Maidan around 5.30 p.m., when the folk dance competition of the Higher Secondary Section was in progress. He sat among the audience for nearly 30 minutes.

This was Mr. Achuthanandan’s first visit to the festival venue after having inaugurated the event on January 30.

Meanwhile, the High School-level instrumental music competition venue at Central Stadium witnessed some stormy scenes after participating teams complained about the poor sound system at the venue. Following protests from the participants, the competitions had to be suspended for around 45 minutes on Saturday.

The ruckus began when the team from Kozhikode abandoned the stage mid-way through their performance to protest the poor quality of the sound system. The protest later led to heated arguments between the organisers and the contestants.

Director of Public Instructions (DPI) A.P.M. Mohammad Hanish and V. Sivankutty, MLA, arrived at the scene. A police team from the Cantonment station also arrived before the competition could be resumed. Technical snags had been bothering participants of the instrumental music contest right from the start. Earlier, the Malappuram team, which had bagged the first position in the event in the last two youth festivals, also had to abruptly stop their performance after they realised that the cable from keyboard was disconnected. Even though the snag persisted when the team re-started their performance, the students continued with their performance. After the performance, parents and teachers accompanying the team protested the poor sound system and demanded a repeat performance.

“These students have come here for the competition after months of strenuous practice. Besides, the instruments that they have brought along are worth many lakhs. And this is the kind of treatment they are given when they come on stage,” said the team’s music teacher Sunil Dutt.

He said the sound system arranged at the venue was of very poor quality. “The sound mixer being used here is of extremely poor quality. If the organisers cannot make even the most basic arrangements for such a competition, why do they even bother to conduct such events,” Mr. Dutt said. Oppana, Malayalam elocution, group dance, Dafmuttu, folk dance and Kathakali were among the other major competitions held on Saturday.

Confusion prevailed at Model LPS, Thycaud, venue of the Sanskrit drama competition when the a girl student was adjudged the best actor. However, the judges explained that she was adjudged best on the basis of her portrayal of Khadolkhajan.

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