The Hindu: Thrissur: Saturday, January 06, 2018.
A son will
come in search of a ‘missing token’ that his mother had instituted in memory of
her illustrious husband, this festival.
L. Sarasamma,
the late wife of theatre and film artiste V.T. Aravindaksha Menon, wanted to
keep the memory of her husband burning by setting up an ever-rolling trophy for
the best actor category in the high school drama competition at the Kerala
State Schools Youth Festival.
The maiden
trophy was given away at its 38th edition in Thiruvananthapuram in February,
1998. A.S. Jayasankar, her son and a former bank employee, would have never
imagined it this hard to reinstate this token of recognition in the name of his
actor-father.
A native of
Kodungalloor, V.T. Aravindaksha Menon was a popular figure in the State
professional drama scene. He had won accolades for a variety of roles that
included Kalanilayam’s Kayamkulam Kochunni, Duryodhanan in Kurukshetram, and
the title character in Pazhassiraja by Kozhikode Raja Theatres. The
ever-rolling trophy was instituted by the family members after his death on May
3, 1994.
“A reply from
the office of the Director of Public Instruction in Thiruvananthapuram to an
RTI application filed by me in October last year said it lacked any information
on the trophy. It said the responsibility of maintaining the trophy registers
lies with the office of the respective Deputy Director of Education in charge
of the festival each year. I had written to the Education Minister expressing
our concern that the trophy was not being given to the young talents,” said Mr.
Jayasankar, a resident of Aluva.
The festival
manual published on the website of the Director of Public Instruction states
that the duration of the ever-rolling trophies/shields will be 10 years. The
authorities can withdraw it if those who had instituted it fail to reinstate
the trophies, it says.
“But we are
yet to get any official intimation asking whether we would like to continue
presenting the trophy. The reply to my RTI queries on when it was discontinued
and the reason for withdrawing it also remains vague,” said Mr. Jayasankar.
Mr.
Jayasankar has not lost hope while stating that he would continue the search
for the trophy, till it is reinstated.
“I am
planning to come to the festival town on Sunday, when the drama competition in
the high school category will be held at the Sangeeta Nataka Akademi hall,” he
said.
.JPG)
.JPG)
