A perfectly rendered “Mahaganapathim” opened NEKKs spring celebration. Arun Saigal accompanied Ullas Rao on the Mridangam for this Carnatic Vocal segment. Ullas’ mellifluous voice and Arun’s nimble fingers worked in harmonic tandem as they rendered “Mahaganapathim” (Ragam: Nattai, Talam: Adi, Composer: Muttuswami Dikshitar) and “Kamakshi” (Ragam: Bilahari, Talam: Adi (Rand Kalai), Composer: Muttuswami Dikshitar). Arun also performed a Thaniavarthanam solo. Both the boys demonstrate great promise in the field of Carnatic music. Ullas trains for Vocal Carnatic music Under Geeta Murali of Norwood and both Ullas and Arun train under Pravin Sitaram of Shrewsbury for Mridangam.

The Vasantotsava cum Ugaadi celebration was dubbed by NEKK as a “Drama Night”. The night was indeed resplendent with theatric energy. After the invocation, a group directed and choreographed by Meena Kadaba performed “Mahishasura Mardini” a dance drama. The myth goes thus: Mahisha, the dreaded demon king attains invincibility through a boon from Brahma. Intoxicated by his power, he wreaks havoc on the godly people on earth. Bramha’s boon protects him from being vanquished by any single God. The Gods then decide to combine their might, with the three supreme consorts at the core, and form Shakti, the supreme power. Also known as Durga, this power then annihilates Mahisha and brings peace and prosperity back to the earth. The representation of the union of Parvati, Lakshmi, and Saraswati through dance was wonderful. The three girls, Aishwarya Ravi, Hannah George, and Nivedha Ram, gave an inspired performance. Aishwarya Ravi sparkled as she depicted the slaying of Mahisha in another dance number. All the children in this dance drama performed admirably. The costumes were most colorful and the choreography was very good.

This was followed by Rasarang School of Performing Arts’ rendition of Bhookailasa, directed and choreographed by Poornima Risbud. This is the story of the “Atmalinga” enshrined in Gokarna. Legend has it that Ravana, unable to see his mother’s distress over the loss of a Linga she made out of sand, sets out to procure Shiva’s own Linga, the Atmalinga. He performs severe penance. It is said that he who adorns the Atmalinga prevails as Shankara himself. Ravana finally attains the Atmalinga along with a decree not to place the Linga on the ground. If done, it will bind to earth forever. Narada then approaches Ganapathi for help. Ganapathi disguises himself as a common village boy and offers to hold the Linga while Ravana performs his Sandhyavanadanam on the condition that he will place the Linga on the ground if Ravana does not answer his third call. The Linga gets thus enshrined at Gokarana. Harihara Subramanya was a very convincing Ravana. Ananya Kumar’s honeyed voice rendered a beautiful Shiva Stuti as Kaikase, Ravana’s mother. Anirudh Nagesha made an adorable Baalaka (village boy nee Ganapati) as he took the Linga from Ravana. All the children in this dance drama did a commendable job inspite of a technical glitch they experienced. Anshuleena Vipparala and Shachi Risbud, who played Shiva and Parvati, were interrupted several times due to an audio feed malfunction, but managed to bounce back and engage the audience in a deftly rendered Ananda Tandava.

The Rasarang School also performed “Hosa Technique” (New Technique) a satirical play about an angry young man transformed by Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. Translated from a Marathi play, it had all the usual masala to make it audience friendly. The new technique, as Jagga the sutradhar explains, is in staging the play without props. After all when you can have stories without a story, poems without poetry, why not a play without props? The plot employs irony and slapstick to deliver the message of how change can affect people. Each line rendered by Sunderesh Bhat (played by Sudhakar Rao) was hilarious. The Play’s social comment however was that people ought to keep their noses (and other parts of the body) clearly out of other peoples lives. Forcing new ideas on them can only end in contrite states of affair. You could be forced to don invisible pants, or worse. This was an exceptional directorial debut by Kedar Risbud.

Finally a group from Connecticut performed the play “Entrepreneur Andallamma”. A hilarious comedy about the lives of NRI parents. As Andallamma discovers, life here is busy beyond imagination. Left alone to her devices as her son and daughter-in-law struggle to keep balance between family and work, she decides to start a home cooked meal business. In years, it flourishes and grows until one day the daughter-in-law give up her career to assist Andallmma manage the huge business. They ultimately go public!

It was a wonderful way to end the evening. Such performances give both the adults and the children an opportunity to showcase such talents as not apparent to public. It is a great occasion to get together with like-minded people and have a few belly laughs.

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