Covid and subsequent travel restrictions have upended life of many artistes and their disciples. But a group of 10 Non Resident Keralites (NRKs) in Malaysia that include two women were not ready to give up their desire to learn Chenda under Guru RLV Hariprasad and they decided to switch to online mode.
On January 31, when they made their debut performance (Arrangettam) at Thripunithura Thamaramkulangara Sreedharma Sastha Temple, it was a dream come true. For the last three years, they have been rigorously training under their Guru Hariprasad through online mode amid their busy professional life as top executives in different firms in Malaysia.
These 10 artistes and their teacher have now shown the world how digital communication technology can be creatively used to learn an art form.
Hariprasad said “this is a great moment and achievement. We are happy that these NRKs took interest in learning an age-old art form online. I’m confident that this will pave the way for more NRKs coming forward to learn different art forms of their home state to get a feel of their roots. I feel proud of this great achievement of the team. It’s for the first time that a group has successfully completed training online and performing.”
Though it wasn’t easy to teach an instrument like the Chenda through online mode, Hariprasad took up the challenge and now he feels content with the task successfully accomplished.
George John, a team member, who has stayed most of his life outside India, said “This was an eye opener for me to feel the essence of our tradition. Special thanks to our Guru who was patient and spent time training us for over three years.”
The team consists of George John, Muraleedharan Nechikot, Vineeth Nair, Santhosh Nair, Jyothi Joseph, Jitesh Kumar, Joseph Panikulam, Anoop, Krithika Prabhakar and Madhukumar M K.
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