The Hindu Business Line : Beyond the classroom, towards a new world

A GROUP of 24 children, aged between 6 and 13, first time learners from Nachiar Vidyalayam, a village school in Pollachi taluk of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and trained by the school's newly set up Nachiar Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA), staged Puttham Pudhu Bhoomi Vendum (Need a new world) at the first National Children's Festival here recently.

The children's play by the student artists of NAPA, first time out of Coimbatore and all the way to Kolkata, thematically revolved around the early beginnings of the nation's freedom movement against British rule, tracking the pivotal stages of the freedom struggle from as early as 1760, and ending with Jawaharlal Nehru's memorable "Tryst with Destiny" speech on August 15, 1947.

The theatre festival was organised by Kolkata's Eso Natak Shikhi (Come, Let's learn theatre) group, in collaboration with Eastern Zone Cultural Centre and Drama Wing of the Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata.

Children from different parts of the country participated in thought-provoking social plays with eclectic themes, laced with dialogue, dance and music at the Purbasree Auditorium of the Bharatiyam Cultural Complex, Salt Lake.

Speaking to this correspondent from Coimbatore, Mani Chinnaswamy, chief coordinator of the entire programme, said the curriculum of the school has been so designed to enhance the intellectual development of the student, and also promote their physical and spiritual well-being.

He said the objective was to promote "learning beyond the classroom," so that every child would emerge as a complete human being, full of compassion and humility.

He added that the Nachiar Vidyalayam Trust also sponsors a large number of needy students.