Kannur: After a tough triangular contest among three districts, Kozhikode took home the coveted 117.5-sovereign trophy for the 11th consecutive year at the 57th edition of the Kerala State School Kalolsavam that concluded here on Sunday. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala handed over the trophy to the winners at the closing ceremony held at the main venue of Nila. Kozhikode emerged as the overall champions scoring 939 points (HS- 427 and HSS- 512), in a repeat of the last festival held here a decade back.
Palakkad closely followed with 936 points (HS- 428 and HSS- 508), and the host came third with 933 points (HS- 429 and HSS- 492). It was after hours long anxious and exciting moments, director of public instructions K.V. Mohan Kumar declared the winners and announced Thrissur as the host of the 58th edition next year. Till the penultimate day, Palakkad was leading with two points, but after the results of higher appeals and the last day competitions, Kozhikode took a leap scoring an extra three points.
Since 2007 Kalolsavam held at Kannur, Kozhikode has been maintaining the winning streak, and it would remain the gold cup’s proud owner for one more year thanks to the whole lot of hard work and dedication of its young talents. In the Higher Secondary School category, MKNMHS Kumaramangalam- Idukki won the first prize with 131 points followed by BSS Gurukulam Higher Secondary School, Alathur, which cornered 123 points.
While BSS Gurukulam Higher Secondary School, Alathur emerged winners in the High School category with 113 points, MKNMHS Kumaramangalam- Idukki followed with 83 points. In Sanskrit Kalolsavam, Ernakulam, Malappuram, Kannur and Kasargod shared the title with 95 points, followed by Thrissur with 91 points. Also in Arabic Kalolsavam, four districts namely, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kollam shared the championship with 95 points followed by three districts, Palakkad, Kasargod and Malappuram with 91 points.
Appeals help talents: Ramesh
Appeals are essential to bring down nepotism and corruption among judges, said Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala speaking at the closing ceremony of the 57th School Kalolsavam, which saw appeals skyrocketing in numbers. He quoted the examples of several students who won the first position after competing on appeals including higher appeals. "The talents should never be sold," Mr. Chennithala said, lauding the participants for bringing on stage contemporary issues through art forms of different hues.
Minister for education Prof. C. Raveendranath, meanwhile, stressed the need for manual amendment and said a meeting would be held on February 17 to decide on this. The meeting will be attended by art experts, people's representatives, mediapersons and officials, he said. The minister said he was satisfied at the way a green youth festival has been conducted, which saw more than 15,000 students from schools across the State participating in 232 items at 20 venues. It is for the first time that a green protocol is being implemented, he added.
Tribal kids thrill audience
The tribal students never had an opportunity to participate in the Nadan Pattu competition at the state Kalolsavams, though folk song is part of the tribal culture. They had to stop at the district kalolsavams mainly due to financial constraints. But the tribal students of Government High School, Ballal, Kasargod, broke the trend and sang on the final day of the festival here on Sunday. The students belonging to Mavilan community gave an impressive performance with their Nadan Pattu named Padal Pattu coming under Mangalam Kali, the tribal dance form, and won A grade.
The students from Mavilan community performed Padal Pattu.
“These students used to perform for the district Kalolsavams, but because of financial constraints, they never made it to the state Kalolsavam,” said Shimjith Bagela, the trainer. For the first time, they performed their art form in their own style and pattern,” he said. “The song is sung in our community on the previous day of a wedding,” said Radika, the lead singer. “The instruments-- thudi and mulachend -- are used by our community people and it was not difficult for us to learn the song,” she added. The majority of students in the school belong to the tribal community.
Thank you Kannur, it was nice being here!
Kannur has won the hearts of the participants of the school Kalolsavam for its unique hospitality, especially the cooperation of the autorickshaw drivers. Even the hartal declared by a political party while the programmes were on didn’t affect them. “We came here on the day of the hartal and our family members were scared about the violence. However, we were welcomed wholeheartedly by the people here,” said Mohana Krishnan and Gautham, team members of Idukki MKNMHSS, Kumaramangalam, which won the overall championship in HSS category for the seventh consecutive year. “The auto drivers helped us a lot in exploring the city,” added Romis, Daryl and Leo.
“The people here were ready to help us at any time though we had heard scary stories about Kannur,” added the students of Vivekodayam BHSS, Thrissur. DPI K.V. Mohan Kumar, in his welcome speech at the concluding function, thanked the people of Kannur for their cooperation. “We named the stages after major rivers in the state and one of my friends asked me whether those rivers would dry up with no participation. But what I could see here was that all those rivers (stages) were overflowing in the last seven days,” he added.
