A Correspondent –
While the growing traffic congestion dissuades people from taking to the roads, heavy downpour acts as a further discouraging factor.
But neither of these mattered to the members of the Sub-Continent community, especially the Tamil-speaking people, who were present at the Auckland Normal Intermediate School Hall on Saturday, February 27, 2016.
They had a common purpose – to raise funds for the ‘Thirumurugan Temple’ of the New Zealand Thirumurugan Temple Society, located at 145 Church Street in Otahuhu.
They were participants in the fourth leg of the Musical Journey started by Aucklander Nadesan Nanthakumar investing his own money, time and efforts, along with that of many others for the noble cause.
Multi-faith Orchestra
The theme for this year’s edition was ‘Beats & Melodies,’ performed by people of other faiths as well, indicating that unity is divine.
The real impact from these kinds of selfless acts would be evident to those who are aware of the speedy development of the Temple which celebrated its annual festivities a few weeks prior to the show.
The three talented sisters, Geerthana, Divya and Manisha Nanthakumar excelled themselves on Violin and Keyboard. The ‘Beats’ segment was led by violins while the keyboards underpinned the melody part of the programme.
Beginning with a rendition of ‘Om Shivoham’ in Violin (from the Tamil movie ‘Naan Kadavul’), the ensuing songs were fast numbers, including ‘Avalukenna Azhagiya Mugam,’ (‘Server Sundaram’) ‘Elamai Etho Etho’ (‘Sakalakala Vallavan’) and ‘Rum Bum Bum’ (‘Michael, Madanakamarajan’).
Melody Segment
The Melody segment featured nine songs. They included ‘Adi Athadi’ (‘Kadalora Kavithaigal’) by Vishnupriya Mallela, ‘Nenjam Marappathillai’ (from the film of same name) by Vethahi Arunthayaparan, ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ by Synthia Shivakumar, Kannalane Enadhu Kannai (Title song) by Anusha Suresh Ramachandra, ‘Netru Illatha Matram’ (‘Puthiya Mugam’) by Alexshana Sivarajah, ‘Mulumathy’ (Tamil version of ‘Jodha Akbar’) by Dheeraj Venkatachalam, ‘Oru Deivam Thantha’ (‘Kannathil Muthamittal’) by Vishaalini Gunathas, ‘Vaseegara’ (‘Minnale’) by Subarna Sivaraja and ‘Katre En Vaasal Vandhai’ (‘Rhythm’) by Meerah & Rama Yogakumar.
Supporting musicians
The supporting musicians gave an amazing performance. The father-son duo of Alex and Joscel Alexander on Octopad and Electric Drums was masterful. Madhan Mohan Kalyan took charge of the keyboards for the Beats part and demonstrated his mastery of the craft. They were ably supported by Jerish Jose on Lead Guitar, Vishnukumar on Bass Guitar and Akilesh Madhur on Tabla.
Manisha Nanthakumar and Rama Yogakumar were Masters of Ceremonies.
The next edition of Musical Journey will be on Saturday, February 25, 2017.
Photo Caption: Geerthana Divya and Manisha Nanthakumar on Violin
