‘Navarathri Special’ Kutcheri in the Park

Sisters Harini and Aishwarya present their first Mikeless Kutcheri

On the first day of the 3 day ‘Navarathri Special’ Kutcheri in the Park organised by Sundaram Finance, sisters - 12 year old T. Harini & 9 year old T. Aishwarya, both students of DAV Girls School, Gopalapuram presented a lively one hour carnatic vocal music performance this morning at the Nageswara Rao Park in Mylapore. This was the first Kutcheri the two sisters were presenting sans mikes and speakers.

Along side the sisters at the chess quadrangle were S. Sivasubramanian on the Mridangam, R.M. Adithya on the Dolki and by Mannargudi V. Shankarraman on the Harmonium.

Songs the duo presented such as Sri Saraswathi (Aarabhi Raagam), Panchathala (Kamala Manohari raagam), Ramanukku (Intholam), Okapari (Kalavathi), Maamavasadha (Kaanada) and Karpakambike (Bilahari) drew special applause from the early morning park audience who had gathered around the chess square.

On their experience, Harini and Aishwarya said, “ This is our first mikeless Kutcheri and we enjoyed singing in front of the early morning park audience. It was a different kind of experience for us to sing without speakers and mikes.”

Commenting on the performance of her students, Mrs. Prabha Rajaram, the Guru who has been teaching these two sisters for the last 3 years said “ I am quite pleased about the performance of Harini and Aishwarya at their first mikeless kutcheri this morning. The way they presented the songs it did not seem like a mikeless concert. There was absolutely no strain on their voice and in fact the originality was visibly seen.”

S. Sivakumar, Vice President- Operations, Sundaram Finance Ltd., was present on the occasion and presented certificates and mementos to the performing artistes.

Navarathri Special Kutcheri continues on Saturday morning(26th September) with 12 year old B. Mrinalini, a student of The Hindu Senior Secondary school, Indra Nagar presenting the mikeless kutcheri accompanied by C. Sarada on the violin and by B. Venkataraman on the Mridangam.

On Sunday(27th Sept) morning, R. Muralikrishna, a student of St. Michael’s Academy, Adyar will present the Navarathri Kutcheri accompanied by Sriram Sridhar on the violin and by Thirucherai Kaushik Rajagopal on the Mridangam.

The idea behind the Mikeless Kutcheri in the Park is to provide a platform for young children to display their musical talent. Mikes and Speakers are not used at the Kutcheri in the Park.

Sundaram Finance audition committee conducts an audition to select the artistes to perform at the Kutcheri in the Park.