Chennai: A two-day fest held on Kalakshetra campus by a non-profit organisation recently to promote sustainability has sparked off a controversy with eminent dancers and artistes voicing their ire against ‘misusing’ the iconic institution.
Pictures of stalls put up during the fest and also a video of youngsters doing a flash mob on the premises were posted on FB. With the video of flash mob going viral and hundreds of netizens sharing their views, the issue became a talking point among connoisseurs.
Eminent dancer and former director of Kalakshetra Leela Samson expres
sed her displeasure and raised her objection on Facebook to allowing Kalakshetra premises for the fest.
Speaking to DC, distinguished dancer Anita Ratnam said the illustrious institution has been headless without a director for the last few months. It is high time the governing board got the new director in place and hold those accountable for things happening there, she added.
However, Reciprocity Foundation denied the charge that the fest had spoilt the campus’ sanctity. Sheila Sri Prakash, founder of Reciprocity Foundation, said, “As part of our endeavour to raise awareness and motivate action towards creating sustainable cities we organised this fest. It was our second edition in Kalakshetra. I am a dancer and I very well know the significance of Kalakshetra. I believe that art can move things. And that is why we had Kalakshetra as our venue and not any other college in the city. I can assure you that no non vegetarian food was served and no nails were driven into trees or wooden floorings as alleged by some people. Also participants of Town Hall didn’t wear footwear because it was held under the banyan tree. The flash mob was not part of the programme. It was an impromptu dance by youngsters. I was not aware of it, but there was nothing wrong in it.” The organisation’s explanation, however, didn’t find many takers among netizens who continued slamming the decision to allow the fest.
When contacted by DC, Kalakshetra governing board chairman N. Gopala
swami said, “The fest on sustainable living focused on issues like e-waste, native saplings and green buildings. Rumours about non-vegetarian food served and nails driven into trees are unfounded. The flash mob was an unfortunate incident.
We have written to them saying that they would not be allowed to conduct the fest in Kalakshetra next year. Also, the new director of Kalakshetra will be announced in the next few weeks.”
