Kala Suruchi's Suruchi Rangamane, a minitheatre to stage plays in city, was the brainchild of noted theatre personality late Sindhuvalli Ananthamurthy. Started in the year 1984 with the staging of "Bekku Bavi" written by Sha. Balu Rao, today it has created an intimate bond with theatre artistes.
Sindhuvalli Ananthamurthy, a native of Sindhuvalli village, dedicated his entire life for the cause of theatre. He founded a theatre group "Samatento" (Saraswathipuram Madhyada Tengina Tota) along with Na. Ratna, Mirle Vishwanath and Chennaiah. He was instrumental in creating avid interest in theatre among students of Banumaiah’s Fine Arts College, where he also taught.
Kala Suruchi, located on Chitrabanu Road in Kuvempunagar, is celebrating its Silver Jubilee this year and as part of the celebrations, has organised a series of cultural programmes.
For the past 25 years, Kala Suruchi has been organising unique programmes like Kathe Kelona Banni, Ranga Geethe, Nataka Vachana and Sahithya Chavadi in addition to holding dramas, seminars, theatre workshops and music programmes, much to the delight of art, literature, theatre and music connoisseurs. This mini theatre can accommodate about 100 audience.
‘Kathe Kelona Banni,’ a story-telling programme for children is being held every Saturday between 4.30 pm and 5.30 pm. This is one of the several activities in the art of oral communication which attracts small children while at the same time rejuvenates an old practice.
According to H.K. Ramanath, an active member of Suruchi Rangamane, "The main reason for introducing this kind of a programme is due to the present nuclear type of families. Today’s children spend less time with parents and in nuclear families there will be no elders or grandparents to narrate stories to kids. Through this programme, we want to take children to the world of fantasies and nurture their ability to dream and visualise."
"Noted personalities are invited to narrate stories to children. Different story-tellers are chosen each time. The stories are moral and ethics based, dealing in the subjects of science, folklore and even current events. The topic of the story will be selected based on events currently happening in the country. Recently during Ganesha festival, stories related to the festival were narrated. The stories range from Panchatantra to mythology."
According to the organisers, the number of children attending the "Kathe Kelona Banni" programme has been steadily increasing. Eminent personalities like J.R. Lakshman Rao, Nagalakshmi Harihareshwara, Meera Nayak, R.T. Rama, H. S. Venkatesha Murthy, Chakravarti Sulibele, Na. Ratna, B.V. Rajaram and others like teachers, littérateurs, advocates, doctors and persons from all walks of life, narrate stories they had heard from their grandparents during their childhood, thus not only entertaining the children but also educating them.
The ‘Kathe Kelona Banni’ programme was inaugurated by noted stage artist Bhargavi Narayan on February 3, 2007 and has already completed 134 sessions without any break.
"Children from different parts of the city come here and listen to the stories and their increase in attendance day by day is a witness to the popularity of the programme," adds Vidya Shankar.
"Padakosha Samaya" is yet another attraction for the children where they learn Kannada language through grammar, vocabulary and sentence formation. Now, under the able guidance of Vijaya Sindhuvalli, the organisation continues to nurture Sindhuvalli Ananthamurthy’s dream for theatre even after his demise. C.V. Sridhar Murthy, U.S. Ramanna, Bhadrappa Henli, Srimathi Hariprasad, H.S. Venkatesh (Rangamitra), B.A.P. Bhat, Shashidhara Simha, P. Nagbhushan, K. Nagraj, Vidya Shankar, Shashidhar Dongre, Sumana and others are presently the core members of Suruchi Rangamane.
Kala Suruchi will be organising special programmes throughout this Silver Jubilee year including plays produced by them.
[Sunday 30th August 2009]
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