Amritha’s lively Sunday Kutcheri on Agni Nakshatram

It was a surprising cool morning on day 1 of Agni Nakshatram. The sky was overcast and certain parts of the city had received early morning rains. Thankfully, the rain stayed away from Mylapore for it was to a big moment for the 15year old Amritha Chandramouli, a class 10 student of Chettinad Hari Shree Vidyalayam who was slated to present the Sunday Kutcheri at the Nageswara Rao Park on Sunday morning (4May).

She was there with her parents by 630am. The accompanists R Kishore (Mridangam) and Thirucherai Karthik (Violin) joined her at the chess square just shy of 7am. Amidst falling leaves and curious birds chirping around the chess square of the Nageswara Rao Park and in front of a park audience comprising of Kutcheri regulars and morning walkers, Amritha started off on a confident note. Singing without mikes and speakers was a new experience for Amritha and she seemed to enjoy it. Amritha, who is learning music from Guru Smt Nirmala Sunderarajan and Sri BM Sundaram, presented popular compositions that included Muthuswamy Dishithar’s Mahaganapathim (Naatai/Adhi), Subburaya Sastri’s Ninnu Vina (Kalyani/Adhi), Arunachalagiri’s Ramanukku Manna Mudi (Hindolam/Adhi) and Thyagaraja’s Ramachandra Nee Daya (Shruthi/Adhi).

G Sundararajan, CFO, Sundaram Home Finance who was present along with other senior officials of Sundaram Finance handed over certificates and mementos to the artistes at the end of the one hour Kutcheri The idea behind the Sunday Kutcheri in the Park organised by Sundaram Finance on the first Sunday of every month is to promote young musical talent aged below 15years and provide them with a launch pad. Over 850 children have presented Kutcheri in the Park over the last 8years. Sundaram Finance conducts audition to select the artistes. To register for the audition: email sundaykutcheri@sundaramfinance.in