Inauguration - 18/07/11

The fourth edition of Nalandaway Foundation’s Art Arattai Aarpattam 2011 is officially underway!

The first event of the much-awaited cultural extravaganza for children was a lecture-demonstration on classical music by well-known singer Bombay Jayashree. The session was attended by more than 200 children from across 6 schools. What made the session so much more interesting is the fact that most of the students who attended the workshop had not undergone any sort of formal training in classical music.

This was followed by the formal inauguration of the event – what promised to be a harmonious evening with the coming together of some of Chennai’s favourite musicians – Anil Srinivasan, Unni Krishnan, Naresh Iyer and Navin Iyer.



The concert was preceded by a short tableau presented by students of the Government’s home, Roypuram, Chennai. The excitement on each child’s face was in plain view as the group created awareness amongst the audiences about the schedule of programs that have been lined up for the next two weeks, including lecture-demonstration on cartooning (is this right?), photography, movie screenings, story-telling sessions and puppet shows. This excitement amongst the participating children, ladies and gentlemen – this is the reason for Art Arattai Aarpattam 2001. This is the reason why we strive so hard, every year, to create an experience that each child cherishes, and brings him and her back to us, the next year.

The concert, to put it in short, was nothing less than a magical journey of beautiful, melodious music, with the artists rendering immortal Bharathiyar favorites like Kakai Siraginile Nandalala, Chinnanjiru Kiliye, Ninne Rathi Endru, amongst others. The pieces left the audience completely spellbound as the strong, soulful voices of Unni Krishnan and Naresh Iyer combined with Anil Srinivasan’s passionate and involved recital on the piano. Our sincere gratitude to Anil Srinivasan and Navin Iyer, who showed us in such an incredibly beautiful way, that music indeed does know no boundaries.

We could not have asked for a more eventful inauguration of Art Arattai Aarpattam 2001. We take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors who have helped get the show underway. We also thank each and everyone who made it a point to be with us this evening and hope that we will see more of you in the days to come.

www.nalandaway.org/aaa2011