The Tamil New Year celebrations event organised by Auckland Tamil Association on Saturday, April 29, was a dazzling display of energy, elegance and exuberance.
The ticketed event, which was priced modestly to include dinner at the end of the event, was eagerly awaited for the promise of bringing international dance troupes and artists from Singapore along with talented local artists.
The anticipation of the event had ensured a full house audience on the night, and to their delight, the event lived up to its expectation with a wonderful display of semi-classical and modern performances on popular numbers of Kollywood (A colloquial term used to describe Tamil film industry) and Bollywood.
One of the guests and a prominent community leader attending the event confided to The Indian Weekender while choosing to remain anonymous, “I have been fortunate to attend Tamil New Year celebrations since last many years.
“However tonight’s event is several notches above in energy and grandeur than last many events by Auckland Tamil Association,” the anonymous-guest further asserted.
The crowds were enthralled with the performances at the event and responded well with roaring applauds, while the masters of ceremonies for the night, Murali Kumar and Gayathri, kept lifting energy-levels of the crowd in-between the performances to ensure that all performers were rewarded with roaring applause.
The event began with a traditional lighting of the lamp by main guests of the night viz, Jeet Suchdev of Bhartiya Samaj, Bhiku Bana of NZICA, Rakesh Naidu of Human rights Commission, Ray Annamalai of Hamilton Balaji Temple, Aruna Jyothi Mallikarjun Reddy of Telangana Jagruthi, Senthil K Sabapathy of Tamil Society Waikato, Siva Kumar of Wellington Mutamizh Sangam, Pancha Narayan of Multi-Cultural New Zealand, Venkat Raman of Indian Newslink, and Sandeep Singh of The Indian Weekender.
It was followed by a welcome speech by Auckland Tamil Association President Vai Ravindran, who wished everyone a great year ahead, before opening the floor for cultural events.
Singapore Dance Group wins the heart
Indeed, the star attraction of the event was performances from the Rameshwara Group of Dance, who was in the country for a week, performing earlie at Tamil New Year celebrations hosted by Wellington Tamil Mutamizh Sangam.
The group delivered eight performances including dances and Tamil film songs from the 1960s – a period considered by many as the golden era of music – to more contemporary times.
Surprise of the show – Russian girl sings Tamil song
A part of Singapore dance group and probably the most exciting surprise package of the group was the Tamil song sung by a Russian speaking native artist.
To add to the drama, when the Russian-speaking girl arrived on stage after a brief introduction by the MC of the event, there was a little wait before she could actually start owing to a slight technological challenge, which added to crowd’s anticipation.
And when she began singing in fluent Tamil language with a melodious voice, the crowd’s anticipation gave way to undiluted adulation.
Local performers match energy of international performers
However, not to be left behind were the local performers from the community who matched the energy of international performers with the elegance and charm of their own.
Among others, Sakayan and Saeyavan of Tamil New Zealand School of Dance presented a dance performance.
Honouring a Tamilian at the event
Continuing the tradition of honouring a prominent Tamilian in the country, for their achievements and contribution to the community, the Auckland Tamil Association honoured educationist Thilliar Varnakulasingham at the event.
Mr Varnakulasingham was presented with the traditional shawl to acknowledge his pursuit of higher education and being a role-model for the younger generation in the community.
In all, it was a great night of celebration and display of Tamil culture and heritage.
ISSUE
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