NEDUMANGAD: The organisers of the Thiruvanathapuram revenue district school arts festival had taken great pains to ensure that that the hiccups that marred the festive spirit on Tuesday were not repeated. These efforts yielded the desired results until the western violin event started. The event organised in the venue 10 was a stone’s throw away from where the ‘chenda melam’ event was conducted. The smooth rendering on the strings was muffled by the heavy sounds of drumbeats. Violin performance in western style was organised in the 10th venue which was a tiled classroom. The competition were held in three categories,UP, HS and HSS. The event had which was a big draw had a sizeable number of participants also. However, the problems began when the ‘chenda melam’ competition started in the venue-11, close to where the violin competition venue. The contestants and the judges expressed their resentment at this. But the organisers where in no mood to rectify the problem. The contestants expressed their dismay at the turn of events. ‘’The mood was not there to perform. The mind needs to be in sync with the soul. Whenever I closed my eyes to touch the hair of the bow with the strings , the heavy sounds from the next classroom was a big distraction, said Leena Sam of Thirumala AMHSS. The violnists found it almost impossible to deliver their best. The same concern was also echoed by Sony Alappuzha, one of the judges. ‘’To deliver pleasing music, the children needs to be focussed. From a peaceful mind alone comes good music. Audibility factor was there. I found it hard to decipher some low notes,’’ he said. Another judge opined that playing a violin next to a drumkit was not like playing cricket close to a football field. Adding to the woes, there was also disruption of power supply when Snthi Senan from Kulathur VHSC was performing. The violinist was left with no other choice but to continue with his performance which was barely audible amidst the heavy thuds from the neighbouring venue.
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