When India celebrated Children’s’ day on November 14, 2014, at the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, curtains were drawn for the celebration of 15th Anniversary of Arpan. Arpan, a socio cultural organization, established in 1999 in Kuwait was celebrating the evening with it Mega Program Raag ‘n’ Rachna.
Arpan is known to present unique and varied art forms in its Annual programs held in Kuwait. Over the years, Arpan has entertained the audience in Kuwait with the famous ‘Kathakali’, musical extravaganza ‘Beyond Boundaries’, Talent Search, Tune and Taste, Swaralaya featuring Gayathri Veena by Vaikkom Vijayalakshmi and Dance by Srikanth-Aswathy Duo etc.
Raag ‘n’ Rachna, as the name suggests offered a feast to the ears through music and to the eyes through Rachna. But the program turned out to be more than mere entertainment with the artists enriching the audience knowledge with facts, figures and techniques in the respective art.
The evening, honored by the presence of H E The Ambassador of India to Kuwait Sri Sunil Jain, started with the National Anthems of Kuwait and India. This was followed by the Arpan song to the accompaniment of graceful dance steps by Arpan children Amalendu Anilkumar, Deepthi Ravi kumar and Devayani Aravind, choreographed by Sharanya Mohandas. Arpan Ladies wing members Rathi Ramamoorthy, Soumya Venkat, Vidya Raghav and Jyothi Ganesh presented the prayer which was followed by the address of General Secretary Sri Anil Attuva and Presidential Address by Sri Mohan Iyer. Arpan vice president Sreenath proposed vote of thanks.
Following the lighting of traditional lamp by H E The Ambassador and Arpan Office bearers (Shri Krishnan K. Pillai (advisory chairman), K. Mahadevan & K. P. Suresh (Progam conveners), P.V.V. Raghav (Treasurer), Smt. Latha Mahadevan (Ladies Wing Convener) and Smt. Kala Mohan (Ladies Wing Co-Convener)), the Ambassador delivered a short and sweet speech to mark the starting of the cultural activities.
The Souvenir for the mega program was released by Sri Mahadevan & K P Suresh, Program Conveners, by releasing a copy to Sri Suresh Krishna of Triton, one of the Major sponsors of the evening.
The first segment was a cartoon and caricature section by Adv. Jitheshji, reckoned as the world’s fastest cartoonist and is famous for his ‘Infotainment’ program ‘varayarangu’. He mesmerized the audience, especially the children with his speed drawing and simultaneous commentary on the celebrity being profiled, Including H E the Ambassador, Jitheshji portrayed many Indian and International celebrities providing a visual treat to the audience eyes. To the accompaniment of the song ”Jai Ho”, he concluded the session drawing famous Indian freedom struggle leaders ending with quoting verses by Sri Rabindranath Tagore and portraying him.
The second segment was a Mandolin concert by Sri U P Raju, who dedicated the evening to the Mandolin legend Late Shri U Shrinivas. Mr. Raju was accompanied by Sri Karunagappally S Balamurali (Violin), Sri Perunna Harikumar (Mridangam), Sri Manjoor Unnikrishnan (Ghatam) and Sri Kottayam S Muralidharan(Morsang). The concert started with “Mahaganapdim” and reached its climax with the keerthanam “Samaja vara gamana” where the Thaniyavarthanam by Mridangam, Ghatam and Morsang took the audience to a state of musical bliss. Sri U P Raju also took time to explain the playing techniques of Mandolin to the spellbound audience.
Apran EC member Sreekumar Mankuzhy compared the entire event very nicely.
Arpan, yet again, proved that quality is what matters by presenting Raag ‘n’ Rachna to an audience who were simply amazed at the skills of the artists.