An evening of music, dance, fun and food by Rambutan Media Works
Venkat Raman
Auckland, December 14, 2020
About a month ago, announcing that they were organising a Programme, Yugendran and Malini Yugendran promised that it would be ‘dramatically distinct and different.’
“All of us in New Zealand are proud to belong to a Nation of people who care for each other, which was how and why we kept Covid-19 under check. We are grateful to the government and in fact to everyone who complied with the rules and regulations and prevented the spread of the Virus. This is time for celebration,” they said.
“However, we will take all the precautions in terms of the government directives. We will even have the QR Code at the venue for people to log in with their NZ Covid Tracer App,” they said.
And what an event it was!
Fickling Convention Centre at Three Kings had undergone an impressive transformation with a festive atmosphere with a well-decorated stage and guests welcomed with a genuine smile by a team of volunteers and families of participants.
Guests of Honour
As guests arrived, the chief among them being Minister of Transport, Workplace Relations and Safety Michael Wood, Minister for Diversity, Inclusion, Ethnic Communities, Community and Voluntary Sectors and Youth Priyanca Radhakrishnan, a battery of photographers greeted them.
They were received with Indian Hospitality, underscored by the Tamil tradition of ‘Virunthombal,’ and personified by a banquet of tasty dishes prepared by Thangavel Mariappan and his team at Saffron Indian Restaurant in Manukau.
Among other notable guests were former National MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, Former President and Current Treasurer and Founder-Trustee of New Zealand Hindu Temple Society (which owns and manages Thiru Subramaniyar Aalayam in Mangere, Auckland) Ilango Krishnamoorthy, officials of various Associations and community groups and media persons.
Nagesh Nemani, known for his organisational ability, was at his best with the venue layout, ensuring that guests were seated such as to obtain an unobstructive view of the proceedings on the stage. He was supported by a team of volunteers.
Presenters and Performers
The inaugural segment saw Nithya Suresh, an orator and debater welcoming guests, followed by Dinesh Kumar and Meenakshi Subramanian attired as a Tamilian Iyer couple and speaking ‘Agraharam Tamil,’ reminiscent of Kittu and Pattu Mami in ‘Ethir Neechal,’ a 1968 K Balachander film. They were ably followed later by Arvind Hari and Aswini Swaminathan, imitating the version of Tamil still in vogue in ‘Koyambatoor,’ better known as Coimbatore. As a native of that City, now arguably the second largest in Tamil Nadu, I was grateful that its twangs and twists are still maintained.
Teenager Ambika Krishnamoorthy presented an invocative number in Bharata Natyam style, followed by Abhishek Ravi (also as a Bharata Natyam item).
Yugendran and Aswathy Sasidharan commenced the journey of melody for the evening. In fact, the choice of songs was exemplary, although not surprising- Yugendran is not only a celebrated singer with hundreds of songs and as an actor to his credit but also the only son famous singer, the late Malaysia Vasudevan. Rendered by Karaoke style, each of the numbers was worth an encore.
The melodious voices of Mathangi Parthasarathi and Shankar Narayanan drew wide applause as they rendered popular numbers from Tamil films.
Teenagers representing ‘Wonder Girls’ danced to a medley of songs and sparkled with their dazzling costumes. There was a surprise item of saree-draping by men, with oral instructions from their wives on stage. Sunder Raman won the contest for wearing a saree in the shortest time and parading his wear to the delight of the guests.
Life-Time Achievement and Other Awards
The most surprising moment when Masters of Ceremonies Amuthini Mohanraj and Sanchaya Soundhar called this Reporter to the stage, followed by Ministers Michael Wood and Priyanca Radhakrishnan to present a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award.’ Yugendran, Malini and their team had put together a video showing my yesteryear photographs with world leaders. Modesty precludes us from displaying the photograph here.
Ms Radhakrishnan received wide appreciation when she was presented with a Special Award by Mr Wood on her appointment as a Minister of the Crown, the first for a person of Indian origin.
Nagesh Nemani was honoured for his services to the community- a much deserved Award.
‘Jalilo Gymkhana’ was one of a kind. We look forward to more such programmes.
The above Report was sponsored by
