Soaking in the arts in Colombo and Kerala

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Kumbi Kathawa
Madilukal

Ottamtullal

Kathakali

I have been away from this space for long, but I have been using this time constructively.

Some of the cultural extravaganaza's I enjoyed in the last 2 months include Kumbi Kathawa or "the ant tale" - a Sinhalese musical performed by the Chitrasena Vajra Dance Foundation which through a children's story attempts to send out a message of mutual tolerance and forgiveness and sharing - powerful stuff; My first ever kathakali performance - 'narakasura vadham' organized by Margi in Trivandrum - another gripping performance; An Ottamtulal performance, which is a lesser known ancient dance form from Kerala which in laced with a sense of humour (just the way i like it) and a malayalam natakam (play), written by late Mr. Vaikom Basheer, a famous playwright known for fiercely sticking to his natural conversational style of writing. The nadakam I saw is called Madilugal (walls) - hair raising story and performance.

Good fun! At the end of it all, my knowledge of malayalam has been raised by a few notches and my appreciation for kerala art forms re-instilled. The sinhalese play too was a pleasant revelation.

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