State Convention , as the name suggests, aims to bring together  a number of students from as many educational institutions of the State as possible and provide them a atmosphere of Ashram Jeevan for two or three days so that they get a glimpse of the composite Heritage of India. The objective is to inspire the children and help them to transform themselves with the exposure gained at the Convention as also to use the opportunity of spreading the mission of SPIC MACAY.  The emphasis is to strengthen the movement and bring in more young minds in its ambit so that the torch is carried forward by the gen next  .  The 2009  Kerala State Convention was held at Chinmaya Vidyalaya Kasargod on 8 9 and 10 January 2010.  If any eyebrows are raised , I wish to clarify that this Convention held in 2010 was to review the activities of the previous year and hence we honestly designated it as the Convention of 2009.  I assure you there is no typo error

About 200 school children from all over Kerala attended the Convention .   Many of the schools which hosted events of SPIC MACAY  in the last one year  i.e  Chinmaya Mission School Kasargod, Trichur, Pallavur , Tattamangalam, Kanhangad, Calicut, Kollengode, Tripunethera, Kollengode, Chengannur, Alleppey, Ernakulam and other schools like Vidhyathiraja Vidya Bhavan, Jawahar Navodaya, Central School No. 1 Kasargod, Amritha Institute  etc etc.  There were also a number of delegates from various schools and colleges of Kerala  representing several chapters and teachers and students from the respective chapters attended . The highlight of the Convention was that the entire organising was done by students of Chinmaya Vidyalaya Kasargod and truly it represented an activity of the students, by the students and for the students..  Of course they had the immaculate supervision and guidance of the Principal and Staff of Chinmaya Vidyalaya Kasargod under the direct ” Chatra Chaya” of Poojya swamiji

The Convention was to be inaugurated by Shri K.S.Vadhyar DGM Canara Bank but due to some urgent preoccupations he could not come but he delegated this task to Mr\U.Arun Kumar Nayak Asst General Manager for Calicut Circle who opened the Convention. In his inauguration address Sri Nayak,  appreciated the efforts of SPIC MACAY  to promote Indian Culture and said that he is fully aware of the great work being done by SPIC MACAY. He exhorted the children to inculcate the values of our heritage in their life.  The AGM was also accompanied by other Senior Managers  who were introduced to the audience. He promised further patronage of his Bank for SPIC MACAY  activities in Kerala . Swamiji gave a memento each to them

Swami Viviktananda Ji gave a overview of SPIC MACAY  in Kerala. The whole event was compered by a very young student by name Farhan Abbas who did a commendable job and displayed great self confidence and poise.  As Dr Seth could not reach Kasargod  by the time the Convention began due to flight delay, Shri Pancham delivered the talk on behalf of Dr Seth. He advised the children to appreciate our heritage and respect what we have inherited in the forms of man.  The activity report of the State was read by a student followed by vote of thanks.

There was Ottamtullal by Kalamandalam Mohan from 6.45 PM  to 8.45 PM which was extremely good and appreciated by the children .

The story was taken from Mahabarata and featured incident of Bhima and Panjali and the encounter of the former with Hanuman.  The whole Episode was enacted in a sort of interactive manner and the children repeatedly burst into peals of laughter at the humour contents of the Tullal.   Dr Kiran seth  arrived by that time and conducted  the Orientation .  He told the children about various aspects of history of our culture and the need for us to understand the values.. He also talked about the need for upholding the ethos in life which is possible only if we pledge ourself to promote our Culture in any manner we can.  He also mentioned the core values and quoted from Ustad Bismilla Khan about the need for good thoughts and good deeds.  Swamiji had earlier spelt out the Dos and Donts which are ground rules for the sojourn of the students for the next three days  like for example getting up at 4 in the morning and attending the yoga classes, need to keep the campus clean etc etc.

Day two began with Yoga classes conducted by Smt Medhavini of Vivekananda Yoga Kendra , Kanyakumari.  A very satisfying and pleasantly surprising aspect is the presence of hundred per cent attendance by the children.  The Yoga session was followed by a break for tea from 6.30 to 7..15  and there was a Talk on Yoga and Meditation by Smt Mdehavini.   These programmes were held at the beautiful Meditation Hall which has an architecture like that of the Lotus Temple in Delhi..   It is one of the most memorable experiences for the children to be in this hall built as per Vasthu Sastra for peace of mind and meditate .  Truly amazing.

After Breakfast  between 815 to 915  AM  the children assembled in the Convention Venue for a talk by Swami Adhyatmananda Saraswati, Regional Coordinator of Chinmaya Yuva Kendra  ( Calicut).  Swami Ji spoke about the most ancient story of a hare and tortoise. Swamiji narrated an imaginary interview which Swami Ji conducted with both the tortoise and the hare after the famous incident of victory of the tortoise in the race. The tortoise replied to Swami Ji’s questions that it never bothered about the ultimate result of the race and was only interested in participating in the race. It said cleverly that it was aware of the weakness of the hare i.e over confidence and egoistic underestimation of the strength of adversary.  It never bothered that the hare had a head start and it was only interested in completing the course to the best of its ability.  Swamiji said we all have different strengths and different deficiencies.  we should learn from the tortoise to know our strength and not to bother about the weakness of others.  We should draw our inner resources and achieve our goals without bothering about success or failures. One success or one failure is not the end of the world.  The Interviewer then conducts interview hare which tells swami Ji that the lesson learnt in this race is that the real victor is one who conquers his weakness.  The children enjoyed the story telling talk of swami Ji and noted down the various inner meaning of the story for following it their life. Dr Kiran Seth added some more ethical points to this story  and it was one of the most inspiring experience for everyone.

After a short break there was Violin  Recital by Mysore Brothes  Dr Manjunath and Shri Nagaraj. They were accompanied by Double Mridangam  by  Shri K.U.Jayachandra Rao ( disciple of Palghat Rajamani who is the son of legend Palghat Mani Iyer) and Shri B.C.Manjunath ( disciple of Guru T.K.Murthy). They opened the concert with a kriti in the raga Hamsadwani  and the effect was spectacular . It was akin to the Mallari rendition in temples of South India when the God is taken on a decorated chariot at night.  They took up an elaborate Mayamalava Gowla song of Maharaja swati Tirunal and followed it with a Ragan Tanam Pallavi with Ragamalika. The much anticipated Thani Avartanam ( conversation between the two Mridangam) was mesmerizing experience of percussion for the children.  This Convention was dedicated to the memory of Mridangam Vidwan Palghat  Raghu and it was very appropriate that the opening Concert at the State Convention featured two wonderful young Mridangam masters on the stage.

After the concert there was a talk on Classical and Folk Art Forms of our Country- Learning to appreciate them by Shri Priyadarshan Lal from Calicut who is a well known scholar on the subject. He delineated the history of various classical and folk art of India  and explained how these art forms have evolved over several Centuries with integration of local culture and history. Many precious lessons of good living are contained in our folk art forms .

After the Lunch break, there was screening of Anubhooti which is a SPIC MACAY  production meant to give the children a brief on love for art.  In the afternoon Shri Mahesh Joshi a very prominent exporter and scholar of Kerala spoke on the topic of Vegetarianism.  He explained the relevance of Satvik food for our growth and said that in God’s creation of flora and fauna there are lots of purpose .  The vegetables have been created by God for the benefit of whole mankind to lead a healthy life which will facilitate noble thinking.  This talk was very much appreciated by the children .  It is amazing that Joshi Ji who belongs to North India has not only settled down in God’s Own Country but has also mastered the  Malayalam language, customs and traditions of Kerala.  It was truly an inspiring talk and many teachers who have come from different parts of Kerala desired to have such lectures in their respective schools

In the evening there was a very purposeful group discussions on organisational matters which was chaired by Dr Seth . Various issues relating to organisational matters and SPIC MACAY  were discussed. Dr Seth chose two volunteers as SPIC MACAY  student coordinators for Kereala and entrusted them the task of taking initiative and develop leadership qualities to benefit the movement.  All the students were given various tasks and time schedule for completion of the chosen task.  This is another example of organising a focused Convention with emphasis on ” Soach” ( Thinking Convention )

There was a unique cultural programme ( Folk based) at night called Thol Pavakoothu  presented by Shri Ramachandra Pulavar and party who runs a well known Gurukul on this very ancient and almost extinct art form .  Thol in Malayalam means hide ( skin) , Pava means toys or puppets and Koothu means Play or performance.  Thus it is a shadow puppet theatre done behind the screen with hundreds of puppets made out of deer skin .  The audience just see the shadow image of the puppets and the show is marked by music and percussion. The story was scenes from Ramayana and the Puppets recreated the Epic Ramayan.  The programme ended with Sita Rama Pattabishek and there was a beautiful benediction recital seeking blessings of God for the well being all those present to witness this sacred art form.  For many students it was a Revelation to know that such an art form exists and survives even today.   At the end of the programme, the students were invited to go behind the curtain and get a feel of the puppets and the art of doing the puppet theatre.

The piece de resistance of the day was screening of the famous malayalam film Vanaprastham which got National Award  in 1999 and Best Actor Award for Mohan Lal.  The story of the film is the life of a Kathakali Artist and there are beautiful visual images of actual Kathakali throughout the movie with cinematography by Santosh Sivan  and Reneto.

Music for the movie is set by none other than Ustad Zakir Hussain .  Shri Pancham explained the inherent aspects of the movie and gave a resume of salient features of this great movie which helped the audience to appreciate the move so much.

Day Three  began as usual with Yoga and Meditation at 4 AM and the enthusiasm of the children was overwhelming.  There was a talk by Dr Kiran Seth  which was followed by break fast.

The noted Veena exponent Dr. Jayanthi Kumaresh gave a scintillating Veena recital from 9.30 to 11.30 accompanied on the Mridangam by Jayachandra Rao and on the Tabla/Moresing by Shri Pramath Kiran. The unique feature of this concert was that Pramath played both Tabla and Moresing alternatively .  Jayanthi Ji explained about Veena and also told the children that an important feature of this instrument is that it has strings for Melody and separate set of strings for Talam.  She also explained the features of the unique instrument called Moresing which is Jaws Harp  played by keeping it in the mouth and using the resonance from the gap of the jaws with tongue doing the talking.   Dr Jayanthi is a child prodigy who started playing veena at the age of 3  and had done 22 years of serious Gurukul under a Veena maestro . She is the disciple of the most eminent Veena Legend Dr S. Balachandar.  She is also the niece of the living violin Legend Lalgudi Jayaraman and she is the wife of the famous violin player Kumaresh of Ganesh Kumaresh fame.  Thus it was no wonder that her concert was of sublime nature. She explained each raga  the tala and also the basic swara notes of the raga and also about the song. She chose songs form Muthuswami Deekshidar .  The famus Amritavarshini raga Ananandamrutha Varshini was the cream of the concert.  Dr Jayanthi announced that sometimes this raga does bring in rains .   She rained music with utmost melody and the whole concert was a spiritual journey to bliss.  Blessed is our country which produces time and again such eminent musicians like Veena Jayanthi Ji.  Her concluding piece was Kapi Raga and she explained the similarities of carnatic ragas and Hindustani ragas. Her whole concert was interactive and the entire audience were in a trance.   She said she is committed to render service to SPIC MACAY  and service to Music . Her humility and Vidwat was a stunning combination and the children did not allow her to leave the venue easily.  The Tani avartanam featuring Mridangam and Moresing was a rare experience for the children.

There was a conceptual session in  the  forenoon which was conducted by Dr Seth. One of the most important features of this convention is the ample opportunity for orientation and conceptual sessions with the children , delegates and other prospective chapter officials .  They got valuable guidelines from Dr Seth and  Swamiji about future plan of action.  Dr Kiran lauded the efforts of Kerala Chapter who has so far conducted 112 programmes from April 09 till date.  He said Kerala is keeping the SPIC MACAY flag flying high

The conceptual session was followed by a remarkable Kootiyatam performance by Margi Madhu and group. The theme was  , again,  Kalyana Sougandikam.   It is amazing that such a young person like Shri Madhu has mastered this most difficult art form and has therefore contributed a lot for its revival.  Madhu’s wife explained the story with demonstration of a few Mudras which enabled the children to understand Kudiyattam better. Shri Pancham also gave a brief introduction about the ancient nature of this art forms and the significance of the Oil lamp, Mizhavu ( drumes) etc.  The programme was riveting and was viewed with AWE

There was Valedictory address by swami Ji  and others which featured calling a number of students to the stage and share their opinion, views and experience.  There was lunch break after which a special afternoon session for the SPIC MACAY  chapter persons . Dr Seth reviewed the plans for the future.

The SPIC MACAY Kerala Convention was an experience to remember and  will  inspire  forever.

Report Written by:

Pancham