My Passion, Thiranottam (1) ------------------------------------------ In August 2007, a hot Afternoon at Dubai… I am along with Venkitachalam and Nandan (Grandson of Vallathol)….. Though the car was air conditioned I started sweating and others were also bit nervous. We were outside the Indian Consulate. Around 3pm in the afternoon we got an appointment to meet Sri Venu Rajamani, CGI, Duabi. That meeting was crucial in the birth of Utsavam (IKKF). It went for 4 months of planning to decide to hold one Kathakali at least in Dubai. We got together every Friday planning, thinking, quitting and dreaming again . Those meetings and discussions went on and on and on… Meeting with Venu Rajamani was crucial. We were hoping to get Indian Consulate hall for reduced rent. The first question he asked us was “would you get audience?” We were hopeful and readily said ‘YES’. To our surprise he said in connection to the celebrations of 60th year of Independence of India we could organise a festival and we get the hall for FREE. All we had to do was to find sponsors. Seeing our excitements, nervousness and tension he offered to introduce us to a sponsor. In the conversation Sponsor mentioned 2.5 and I & Venkitachalam believed it was Rs 25,000/- or Dhs 2,500/-. But when we received the cheque, we opened the envelope to see it and we were shocked! It was Dhs 25,000/- !!! May be we received our first sum from that blessed hands till today we always have break even budget for our projects… Thus that August 2007 turned special to us. We with the only strength and experience of organising a Kathakali Pada Kutcheri we ventured into organising a fully-fledged Kali. Along with Padmasri Kalamandalam Gopi Asan we decided to invite Sadanam Krishnankutty Asan also. Thus 1 recital planned turned into 2 ( For this greedy attitude of mine to organize more programs even my beloved teammates blames me ;) ) Our dreams never froze there. I always suggest my team mates to think as they are here why don’t we do Cholliyattoms, Keli, and Thayambaka in the day time. Thus our initially planned one Kali grew into 4 and it turned up into a festival mode. The artiste who came was so versatile they shone in everything. Naripetta Asan was perfect for Kali and an asset for colliyattom. With in a weeks’ time two days festival become a 4 days!!! An organisation in Abudhabi contacted us for a Kali. With their small support we organised 2 Kalis there as well. Soon after that a group in Rasalkaima wanted 2 Kali and happily Thiranotam coordinated that too. Initially planned 1 kali grew into 8!!! Thus Utsavam was established. Balaraman Asan is perfect for Kathakali as well as for Traditional Thayyampaka. We selected KLNM Gopalakrishnan, (even though our other teams were not well aware of his talent) I put 10 veshams in 8 Kathakali We can’t forget the contributions of artists, especially KLM Babu Namboothiri and KLM Vinod, they continuously performed for all the 8 stories as well as Cholliyattams (Lec-Dem) and Kathakalippada Katcheri. We were a group who did not know budgeting or experienced in organizing a program in Gulf country. But it still worked... It was the trust and passion that bonded the team members. That year Thiranottam’s Utsavam was selected as the best program of Indian consulate and a report was sent to Indian Parliament. Those GOLDEN memories are so fresh as today in my heart. Do i need to say anything more... Remesan Nambissan will continue…. (photo courtesy – Biju Menon)
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 10:55:22 +0000