JEDDAH: Soorya Sargam, a cultural organization of Keralites working in Saudi Arabia, presented five humorous but thought-provoking theatric skits here on Thursday night, giving the traditional cultural events of music and dance by expatriates a new twist.
Nearly 400 invited guests, mostly families, enjoyed the comedy show and appreciated the marvelous performance of the young artists, who had come from Kerala to entertain their compatriots in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam.
N. Krishnamoorthy, the chief architect of Soorya-Asia’s largest cultural society, said in his welcome speech that artists must speak against social evils, misdeeds, corruption and discrimination. “It is the duty of artists to respond against such evils. It may not make an impact, but throwing at least a mustard bean against them will give us some mental satisfaction.”
He also disclosed his intimate relationship with legendary Malayalam writer Vaikom Mohammed Basheer and said he had considered the late novelist his guru and guide. He said Basheer had influenced him to create his new drama Prema Leganam (Love Letter), which is based on a story written by Basheer with the same name.
According to Krishnamoorthy, guru is neither a schoolteacher nor a master of arts. “It is the real experience that occurs in someone’s life that incidentally teaches him/her a very valuable and unforgettable lesson,” he said. “In English language we cannot find an appropriate word for guru,” he added.
The Jeddah event was a curtain raiser for Soorya’s “Narma Kairali” festival, which is organized under the patronage of Abdullah Al-Saihati, chairman of Saihati Group and chief patron of the Saudi chapter of Soorya. The same theatric skits will be staged in Dammam tomorrow after their successful presentation in Riyadh yesterday. Those who want to know more about the Dammam event may contact 0505864867 or 0502178522.
The two-and-a-half hour program is designed by Krishnamorthy and conceived and enacted by four theater artists from Kerala based on the short stories of Rabindranath Tagore (Sookshma Charcha), Russian writer Anton Chekhov (Thadicha Manushyanum Melinha Manushayanum), Kunhunni Master (Shingidi) and Jayaprakash Kulloor (Chakkees Changaram).
It was a laugh-bursting entertainer to the invited guests who thronged the Murjan Auditorium. The skits were presented by K. Vinod, N. Binoy, K. Gopalakrishnan and Jose Raphel. “This is a new concept which is used to present short stories or poetries as skits with minimum characters, props and settings,” said Krishnamoorthy. He praised Abdullah Al-Saihati for his tremendous support to Soorya programs.
Reshma Suresh and Sriram Prasannakumar anchored the event, which was supervised by M. Sreejith, vice president of Soorya Sargam. Jayakumar gave a vote of thanks.
Soorya aims to promote Indian art and culture around the world. Its activities include screening of films, holding of seminars and discussions on cinema and conducting festivals of music, dance, painting, photography and handicraft in addition to conducting light and sound shows, plays and stage shows on subjects of social relevance.
