Date:10/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/10/stories/2008101050610200.htm

Tamil Nadu

Small eyes, big dreams, great project

Staff Reporter

A two-day camp held to augment students’ artistic talents

Fine-tuning: Students enjoy a painting session at the two-day camp organised on the PCTC campus in Kondam Kariyandal village near Tiruvannamalai.

Tiruvannamalai: None is there to scold those young souls for toying with mud; instead, there are people to encourage them. The children received kudos for every bit of creativity they have shown with paints, papers, theatrical plays and clay.

Around 50 students were on their wings during the two-day camp organised to augment their artistic talents on the People’s Craft Training Center campus in Kondam Kariyandal village near here.

The programme oddly named “Tholaithoorathu malaigalai pirathipalikkinrana minmini poochiyin siru kangal” (Those small eyes of fire flies reflect the far-away hills) was hosted by ‘Cuckoo - children wisdom movement.’ It’s organiser Sivaraj said that this was not a “hit and run” programme but the first lap of a year-long course in which the same 50 students from various government schools across Tiruvannamalai district would be called to attend the camp at least once in a month and would be trained in the nuances of various fine art genres, like sculpture, painting or theatrical plays.

Experts from each genre and naturists working around Tiruvannamalai toiled at the camp.

Ezhil, a Villupuram-based painter and children activist, guided a collage painting session for children on the first day.

Students from far-away places exceptionally collaged dry leaves, papers and other trash pieces into beautiful art works. On the second day he conducted a water painting session on pieces of card rolls, which turned out to be a feast of colours and finally he warmed them up for a clay sculpture session.

Thamu, a theatre artist who works with leftist troupes and street children, involved the participants in exercises and games that physically and attitudinally prepare students to perform theatrical activities through many sessions.

The other artistic talents that were not covered by the stipulated programme, like music, mimicry were not forcibly kept away when they surfaced from the joyful kids. Students who mimicked their teachers sparked laugher.

People from different walks of life like Naturist ‘Thamba’ Peter, Science teacher A.Narayanan, Siddha doctor Kirubakaran, Photographer Shanmugasundaram, Saravanan, an art teacher from Pattukottai BEFI School and Nehru, a cinema director and several others contributed their experiences in shaping the camp.

Sivaraj, organiser of Cuckoo, assured that the same students would be invited again to the second session next month and they would be grouped based on their specialisation, in order to give them in-depth sensitisation and training in their selected genre.

Ezhil, the painting faculty, said that the leftover clay was waiting for those young hands to return.