The Boston Thamil Association (BTA)  presented “Kalai Vizha – 2005 “at the Sorensen Arts Center at Babson College in Wellesley, MA on August 6, 2005.  Literally meaning “art festival” the production quality of this event raised the bar for shows featuring local talent.  The compeering by the world-renowned radio and TV host B.H. Abdul Hameed added a touch class to this event.

“The visions and aspirations of the Boston Thamil Association is synonymous with the dynamism of Thamil Heritage enriched in particular by the epics and other works of literature, music, dance and drama of the Thamil people” says Sudha Thillaiampalam who is the secretary of  the BTA.  This show exemplified this vision presenting items that were reflective of Thamil culture, both the ancient and the modern.

The program opened with Subramanya Bharatiyar’s “Thamil Thai Vazhthu” sung by young children. The next piece was a creative number called “Categories of Employment” where the coordinator Shahila Navakumar had picked songs from movies that spoke about various occupations and had little children dance to those tunes. The youngest performer was no more than 3 years old!

“Ramayanam “ coordinated by Suresh Sivasithamparam was a magnificent production. He used elaborate props and interesting song and dance numbers to tell the story of this epic. He made creative use of songs from films to suit different situations. He had Surpanaka dancing to “Nan yar yar endru solavilla” from Pattanathil Bhootam and it fit the scene perfectly!  Over forty participants, mostly children presented this item.

Kavitha Kanagarayer and Nidhya Navanandan presented Verum Kai Enpathu Moodathanam in Bharatnatayam style and this was followed by Bho Shambo by Ajetha Nadansabesan, Priya Vijey, Rekha Selvanaayagam, Sahbina Wigneswaran and Yarlini Vijey.

Abdul Hameed clarified why Bharatanatyam, a dance based on the writings of Bharata Muni from North India came to be identified as the dance of Thamizhnadu. " Before Bharata, Chatanar wrote the Koothu Nool (or dance rules) based on the dance of the Thamils. Bharata’s work seems to have extensively drawn from this work. Thus this style has its roots in Thamil culture" said Hameed.

This was followed by a comical number – "Chunnakkam Market – Somewhere in time " coordinated by Ram Ramanan. Other dance numbers included Thaka dimi Tha coordinated by Sudha Thillaiampalam. Musical presentations included Isai Aruvi coordinated by Bhinooshini Arulanandam, Sahmithra Ramanan, Shyamala Maheswaran and Isai Thamil coordinated by Sarojini Santhamoorthy and Kamala Easwaramuthali.
The drama troupe of BTA presented a comedy – Babu’s by Laws”. In memory of the Tsunami victims a folk dance choreographed by Soumya Ramanathan was presented.

The committee under the leadership of Ranjit Singanayagan must be congratulated for putting up such a grand show. “The BT has grown steadily as many Thamils of SriLankan origin have settled in the New England area. We live in a nation that is rich and powerful. This country encourages ethnic minorities to preserver their culture. We Thamils must use this opportunity and encouragement to further grow our culture” said Singanayakan.  The show was clear evidence that Thamil culture is flourishing in New England.!

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