JEDDAH: A marvelous oppana dance and a thought-provoking drama both presented by the children of Bukhari Madrasa, and an exciting magic show by Hussein Wandoor were the highlights of an art festival organized by Malarvadi Balasangam at Maqassed School here on Friday.
Jamal Muhiyuddin Alwaye, chief patron of Balasangam, opened the festivities and urged parents to encourage their children to become members of the organization that works to develop children’s talents and mould their characters and personalities.
Abdul Shukoor Ali, former coordinator of Balasangam, highlighted the tremendous support received by the organization from parents and their children in Kerala and Gulf countries. He said nearly 500,000 children from KG to Class VII are currently associated with the organization.
A musical presentation by Nazrin Nazer, depicting the life of a Palestinian girl living abroad as a refugee and her desire to return home won the applause of the audience, mostly Indian families.
Earlier, zonal cultural contests in 13 items including song, cartoon, poem recitation, story stuffing and mono act were held for 180 winners of area-level contests.
The top winners were given trophies and medals by Mariyam Aziz, principal of Maqassed, Kashif Faiyaz, business development manager of Al-Abeer Medical Group, Jamal Malappuram, an Islamic scholar and researcher, and Jamal Alwaye.
Paul Joy, principal of Open School at International Indian School, who was one of the judges, commended Balasangam’s efforts in raising the capabilities of children. He pledged every support to the organization. C.H. Basheer was the general coordinator of the event while Nizar K.K. was the program coordinator. Nizar Iritty, chief resource person, prepared materials for the contests and Mumtaz T.C., principal of Bukhari Madrasa, supervised cultural programs.
Top winners include Lamya Mohammed Shah (song), Mishal Mohammed (memory test), Fida Anwer (crayon), Nazrin Nazer (action song) in the kids category, Amal Abdullah (mono act), Sharika Balachandran (song), Sree Lakshmi Madavan (Malayalam poem recitation), Ezzat Abdul Ghafour (pencil drawing), Mithil Rao (English poem recitation) Haika Fathima Ambalavan (crayon/English poem recitation) in sub junior, Tabsheera Abdul Nazer (song), Hani Abdul Majeed (story writing), Rinsa Gafoor (story writing), Nazneen Mustafa (pencil drawing), Hida Rose (mono act), Nihal Udaranikkal (cartoon), Fathima Shirin (poem writing), and Gayathri Venu (water color) in the junior section.
