Madras Week 2014 Report

Madras Week Festival 2014- Celebrating the 375th Birthday of Madras- A
Brief Report
United Way of Chennai has proved yet again that it has a unique way of promoting
The Madras week Celebrations, by naming it as Madras Week festival and bringing
out a logo which will represent our involvement in the years to come.
Our culture, our tradition and our Parampariyam, were delivered in the right mix to
Namma Chennai audience this season. We had two programs as part of our
celebrations-1) A classical evening and 2) An Art exhibition and cultural activity by
school students.
August 19th 2014- at Music Academy..
Inaugural & Ms.Shobana’s Classical Dance - the First Public Performance
of United Way of Chennai
With the joint association of The Times of India, we kick started the celebrations
with a Grand Inaugural classical evening of Shobana’s dance program on 19th
August, 2014 at 6.30.p.m at Music Academy.
The welcome speech was given by our Chairman, Mr.Alagappan, followed by the
lighting of Kuthuvilaku by heads of 5 NGOs whom we support. This followed by
giving away the Grant to CAT- Community Action Trust.
Chairman Mr. Alagappan – welcome address
kuthuvilakku
NGO heads lighting the
As part of the inaugural, we first had a performance by children from RASA and then
from The Girls home at Kelly’s who gave a dance performance proving that their
talents are no less than any other …A 5-10 minutes slot was enough for them to
get the support of the audience and change their mindset towards them. It was
evident that many members in the audience were emotionally touched, when they
gave a standing ovation after the children finished.
Children from the Kelly’s juvenile home performing
from RASA performing
Children
Then the stage was taken over completely by Ms. Shobana and her group of
students. Ms. Shobana, a highly acclaimed Bharatanatyam danseuse and film actor,
left everybody spell bound with her 1.5hr performance. The students and their Guru
together were in sync with the rhythm. She had selected a mix of popular Classical
songs which was well appreciated by the audience.
Another highlight of the evening was the exhibition of vintage photos of Madras city.
Many took photographs alongside the exhibited vintage photos. It was a rewind for
that set of people who looked at those photos with a feeling of how calm and
beautiful our Chennaipatinam was.
We could see the Grandparents proudly explaining to the children how clean our city
was in THOSE years….I could see a memory rush, when I overheard a grandfather
telling his granddaughter showing a photograph.. “This is how Mylapore looked
when Thaatha and Paati came to Madras after our marriage” .
The Parrys Corner in 1890
The nearly full auditorium at Music Academy
by the NGOs
Display
The1500 seater was nearly full with a mixed group comprising of well-wishers and
donors of UWC, NGO friends and students of Bharatanatyam. We got the
opportunity to showcase our work, our interests through the standees of our NGO
friends whom we had supported. The audience appreciated our work, the efforts of
United Way of Chennai. Chola MS were the official sponsors of the Classical evening.
August 26th, 2014 at Valluvar Kottam
Dream Madras 2014 –Inter School Competition on the theme-“What I like
in My Madras”
Almost 80 stalls came live on 26th August, at Valluvar kottam with exhibits made by
school children bringing out the rich culture, tradition of Madras of what they liked
and the reasons of why we celebrate the founding day of Madras. Children from a
combination of Private, Corporation, and Government schools participated in this
competition. This inter school competition served as a platform to create
awareness, a learning arena, where children could explore and bring out the
nuances of what they liked in our Madras.
From 7am in the morning, the children started arriving to start preparations to
decorate the stalls given to them. Accompanied by their parents and teachers, the
environment witnessed a lot of activity, like cutting, pasting, drawing, final touches
in painting etc. One could see a lot of team work happening amongst the children
.The leadership qualities and that of organizing, coordinating, arranging, sharing,
helping members of other schools etc. were witnessed. The environment gave
usa very strong feeling that, the future and growth of this country is very
secure in the hands of these children.
The children exhibited their creativity by way of models, digital presentations,
paintings, graffiti etc. Eminent judges were given a tough task in deciding the
winners. Mr. Thota Tharani- Art director, Ms. Sharmila Mohandas –Artist and Ms.
Parvathy Nayar- Artist were the judges for the day long exhibition. The first three
prizes went to three schools from the Corporation and Government
Mr.Thota Tharani judging an exhibit
This year the highlight was the participation of Great Lakes Institute of Management
in giving a session on Entrepreneurship and Management to the Corporation
schools. Under the able guidance and leadership of Prof.Veeravalli, the 2.5hr session
for 80 students from the Corporation, a mix of Boys and Girls, was a big hit amongst
the students. The success in this activity based session was that, it was conducted
in a language that could easily reach a 10 th std student. Every child could relate to
a management perspective through a day to day activity in our life.
The Great lakes Management program with children from
Government Schools
Afternoon, witnessed cultural activity by the Corporation school students, on the
theme “Parambaryam”. It was a colorful event showcased by children who had put
in a lot of efforts to bring out the forgotten culture and tradition of our soil. Ms.
Suhasini Maniratnam was the Judge for the Cultural event, who mentioned in her
speech that, “the potential of children from a Government or Corporation school is
no less than a Private school”, as she herself was a product of a Government school.
Three best performances were given away the prizes.
Cultural performance by students
Prize Distribution
Vasan Health Care was the main sponsor of this program. We had many refreshment
sponsors like ITC foods, PepsiCo, Hotel Asiana, and Winners Bakery who sponsored
water, biscuits, chocolates, juices, breakfast and Lunch for the children. Prizes such
as cycles and shields were sponsored by Murugappa Group and TI cycles.
THANK YOU
Thanks to all the Board members (Mr. Alagappan, Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan, Mr.
Madavan Nambiar, Mr.Mahalingam, Mr.Amarnath Reddy, Mr. Raghuraman,
Mr.D.Chandrasekhar,Mr. Prakash Katama, Mr. Ajay Shankar) who have stood by us,
guided us, and helped with their connections in sponsors, school participation,
bringing in judges for the school program and in other arrangements.
A special thanks to Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan, for his valuable guidance and inputs in
the Madras Week festival.
Thanks to Mr. Ninan and team from The Times of India, for their help and Support in
the entire Madras Week Association.
Thanks to Nokia and TCS for arranging buses for the children transport to and fro at
Valluvar kottam for the Dream Madras Program.
Thanks to Mr. Muthiah (The Hindu) for his guidance on how we could progress with
each activity and his reference to Mr. D.Krishnan for the Vintage photos of Madras..
Thanks to Mr. Mahadevan Hot breads for his support
Thanks to Global Hospital for sponsoring ambulance for the School Program.
Thanks to Mr. Vikram Kapoor IAS, Commissioner of Chennai whose initiative helped
in getting Participants from the Corporation schools.
Thanks to Ms. Ranjani, AEO, who helped and guided for coordination with
Corporation schools
Thanks to Mr. Abdul Ghani (social activist) who helped with Volunteers for the School
program.
Thanks to RRD Samyuktha, Santhanalakshmi and team for their help in all the
creative’s of Madras Week.
Thanks to Naidroven our volunteer with help in social media through facebook for
the Shobana’s dance program..
Thanks to Brand Blitz event organizers for the coordination of the School program.
A special mention to all the volunteers from RRD , who were present at both the
programs on 19th and 26th August. They helped in carrying on all activities as
planned .Thanks to all the Volunteers for their support to United Way of Chennai.
Not to miss out the people who made it possible.
Our Sponsors.
A big Thankyou to all our sponsors of the Madras week.
Chola MS, Vasan Health Care, ITC foods, Pepsico, Hotel Asiana, Winners Bakery,
Great lakes Management Institute, Murugappa Group and TI cycles