Energy goes beyond prizes

Thiruvananthapuram: The joy and energy of this year’s CBSE State Kalotsav went much beyond just the prize distribution. Three stars shone splendidly by bagging the prizes for all the three events they participated in. They were Angela Rose Augestin, Pranav J and Devi Unnimaya.

Angela, a tenth standard student came first in Anchoring, Extempore and Monoact, once again establishing her monopoly on these events by carrying over her winning streak from the regional level.

The star from Good Shepherd Public School, Changanassery, she represented Kottayam Sahodaya. Angela, daughter of Augestin K I and Beena Sebastine, was trained by Jose Kalarakkal who also trained the participants of Sahodaya’s One Act Play which bagged the first prize.

Pranav, a class twelve student of Chinmaya Vidyalaya representing Thrissur Sahodaya won three first prizes in Light Music, Mridangam and Classical Music.

While most 12th standard students avoided the Kalotsav giving more importance to studies, Pranav says “Music is my passion and I have always wanted to pursue it hand in hand with my studies.

I am so happy to have bagged all the three prizes.” Pranav is learning music for eight years now and in Mridangam, he has been trained by his father right from his childhood.

Even in the past Kalotsavs, Pranav has been a force to reckon with, bagging prizes every year. He is the son of K Jayakrishnan and Bindu Jayakrishnan.

Devi Unnimaya, daughter of Manikuttan Namboothiri and Raji Antharjanam, too secured the first prize in all the events she competed for.

A class ten student of Placid Vidya Vihar, Changanassery, she represented Kottayam Sahodaya and came first in Folk Dance, Mohiniyattam and Kuchipudi. In a long time, the first prize in Folk Dance was not shared.

Devi Unnimaya’s trainer in Folk Dance is Suraj Ernakulam. Her trainer in Kuchipudi is actress Manju Warrier’s guru Geetha Padmakumar and in Mohiniyattam, it is the Kalamandalam award recipient, Kavitha Krishnakumar.