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Titles were conferred on Carnatic vocalist K J Jesudoss, danseuse Dr Saraswathi and dramatist S Ve
Shekhar at the inauguration of the 34th annual music and dance festival of the Nungambakkam Cultural Academy in Chennai on December
10.
The function was held at the Rama Rao
Kala Mandapam on Habibullah Road, T
Nagar.
Industrialist M A M Ramaswamy inaugurated the festival and conferred the titles of Sangeetha Kala Shiromani, Nritya Kala Shiromani and Natya Kala Shiromani on Jesudoss, Saraswathi and
Shekhar respectively.
Ramaswamy said the number of sabhas in the city had proliferated and it was a good thing. "The more the merrier," he said. Referring to the remark of the sabha secretary, S Natarajan, that the sabha membership had dwindled from 650 to 275, Ramaswamy asked the sabha office-bearers not to feel disheartened. "What is important is that you are serving so many members. Even if the number comes down to 75, you should not worry, as you will still have the opportunity of serving and entertaining 75 members," he added.
Offering his felicitation, the
executive director of Indian Overseas Bank, R M Desai, said he was happy to note that Chennai was
the epicentre of cultural activities during the months of December and January. He had found tremendous activity in the field of fine arts during these two months in Chennai. He promised the assistance of
IOB to all endeavours aimed at promoting culture, fine arts, sports and activities for needy children.
Noted danseuse Sudharani Raghupathy said the three awardees richly deserved the awards. Former director of Doordarshan Kendra, A Natarajan, said M A M Ramaswamy was continuing the tradition initiated by his father to promote Tamil music.
Replying to the felicitations, Jesudoss said God was one and there was no need for mankind to fight one another in the name of religion, caste, creed or language. It was the duty of every citizen to spread the message of goodness, he said, adding if this was done, there would be no hatred, violence or acrimony in
society.
Dr Saraswathi said such awards were like energy pills for artistes, who, thanks to the encouragement, would be motivated to perform better and re-dedicate themselves to furthering the cause of
fine arts.
 S Ve
Shekhar said he was honoured to receive the award as a dramatist during the music and dance festival, and said the honour truly went to senior dramatists and not to him.
There was a time when it was a real struggle to run a theatre troupe. He recalled that payments were poor in the past and his troupe made a net profit of only Rs 10 per show at one time. Yet, the members of the troupe continued to perform day after day, he said. He pointed out that his troupe members were disciplined
- they did not drink liquor or smoke cigarettes. Shekhar donated the cash award of Rs 5,000 (received along with the title) to an eye hospital in K K Nagar.
Ramaswamy announced a donation to the Nungambakkam Cultural Academy.
R Rangaraj
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