The New England Tamil Sangam (NETS) presented ‘Light Music & Variety Show’ on November 18th 2006 at RJ Grey Junior High School in Acton.   Light Music & Variety Show, as the name sounds, was a mix of Light Music from popular Tamil movie songs and variety show featuring cultural performances by members of the local community. 

The program started with a welcome address delivered by current NETS president Mr. Prem Natarajan. Following the welcome address came a ‘Tamil Poem’ by our new committee member Mr. Lenin Ramasamy describing the experience of a young person in a foreign country and appreciating the Tamil Sangam for helping him during his stay.  It was quite poetic and narrated extremely well. 

The first item in the agenda was the ‘Light Music’.  Our Emcee of the program,  Ms. Uma Nellaiappan, introduced the lead singer Ms Meena Sundaram and her group consisting of Mr. Vasanth Murthy, Mr. Krishna Kumar (KK), Ms. Aruna Sankaranarayanan, Ms. Sathya Prabhakar and Musician Mr. Christy Mathew. They started off with a devotional song and continued several popular hits including ‘Uyirin Uyirae’,  ‘Sneghidhane’, ‘Konja neram’ and latest ‘Partha mudhalnaale’ and many more. They ended with ‘Kannodu kaannbathellam’ from Jeans making the audience asking for once more.  Ms. Nellaiappan quizzed the audience between the songs and made the show more interesting.

After the break, Mr. Balaji Sathanandam provided a brief update on the activities of NETS during the year 2006 highlighting Pongal Vizhaa 2006, Stage Friends Drama Rahasiya Snehidyae, NETS picnic 2006 and the Light Music & Variety show.

The second session was a variety show that started with a presentation of Ranjani Saigal's Bharatanatyam creation "Savithri - Ekangi Abhinaya" , presented by her student Amudha Pazhanisamy . Ranjani Saigal did the nattvangam and narration.  They delivered a riveting Satyavan Savitri dance which held the audience in its thrall.  With her great talent for Abhinaya, Amudha single-handedly brought to life the different characters in the story in the typical Bharatanatyam fashion.

The next item was a ‘Devotional Feast’ by the students of Ms. Aparna Balaji from her school Abhyaas. First came a solo song ‘Srinivasa Thiruvenkata Mudayan ‘ by Avinash Shukla accompanied by Mr. Pradeep Shukla on the tabla.  This was followed by a group rendition of songs (Vezhamugathu Vinayakane, Thullumadha Velkai, Bho Shambo, Kurai Ondrum Illai and Thillana) by Adhithi Iyerngar,.Aishwarya Ravi, Neela Kaushik, Pavithra Chari, Meghana Chandra, Ramya Ramakrishna, Vinitha Kannan, Sruthi Balasuryan and Prayuth Naduthutta.

The next item was a group classical dance performed by students of Ms. Jayshree Bala Rajamani, founder of Bharathakalai School of dance in Lexington.  The students Nivedha Kumar, Sweta Nanavati, Devi Patel and Priya Vijey started with the Kautvam, a traditional invocation to Lord Ganesha. Next they danced a Padam, (Bho Shambo) in praise of Lord Shiva. Following that a Thillana, and finally the Mangalam.
The finale of the variety show was a veena concert by the students of Ms. Durga Krishnan, founder of New England School of Carnatic Music. Veena by Amritha Mangalat, Harsha Bhisetti and accompanied on the tabla by Niketha Srinivasan. They performed Vathapi Ganapthim, Nagu Momu and Bho Sambo, (which happened to be the theme song of the day).
Mr. Balaji Sathanandam delivered the final vote of thanks to all the performers, sponsors and to the audience for making the program a grand success.  After vote of thanks, on behalf of NETS, our past President Mr. Ilango Chinnasamy awarded NETS Trophies to all the performers and their respective teachers. Little Market (Indian Grocery Store) and Starbucks of Acton co-sponsored the event.  The evening dinner was organized by Ms. Vidya Kalyanaraman and Ms.  Poongothai Govindraj and made by the committee members and volunteers. 

This unique event was appreciated and enjoyed by all the audience and wishes to see such events in the future.  NETS extends a heartfelt thanks to all the performers who generously contributed their time and talent and provided a great experience for the community.

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