Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials,
\n Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription<\/p>\n
The View From India
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLooking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.<\/p>\n
First Day First Show
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNews and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.<\/p>\n
Today's Cache
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYour download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.<\/p>\n
Science For All
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!<\/p>\n
Data Point
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDecoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers<\/p>\n
THEdge
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAt the cutting edge of education and careers<\/p>\n
Health Matters
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRamya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there<\/p>\n
Gender Agenda
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStories from beyond the binary.<\/p>\n
The Hindu On Books
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBooks of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.<\/p>\n
Rehearsal session of MBS Youth Choir in progress at Lenin Balavadi in Thiruvananthapuram
\n | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN<\/p>\n
\u2018Thikkugal ettum sithari, Pakka malaigal udainthu, Andam saayuthu\u2019… It was a goosebump-worthy moment when members of MBS Youth Choir (MBSYC) sang the lines from Subramania Bharathi\u2019s poem, \u2018Mazhai\u2019, with vigour and power in their voices. The poem captures the all-consuming fury of nature \u2013 heavy downpour, thunderstorm, winds, lightning and the destruction that ensues. But, on a deeper level, the poet was calling for massive, public uprising against the British.<\/p>\n
It is one among the hundreds of songs set to tune by MB Sreenivasan or MBS, who believed that music has the power to bring in change. As the nation enters the 80th year of independence, MBSYC is not only holding fast to the legacy of MBS, who pioneered a tradition combining Indian classical and folk tradition with Western harmony, but also his objective to promote secularism, peace and unity through music.<\/p>\n
Rehearsal of MBS Youth Choir in progress
\n | Photo Credit:
\n NIRMAL HARINDRAN<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the only choir in Kerala that follows this format of singing, without break for the last 38 years,\u201d says Ashok S, coordinator of the choir, which was an initiative of his father, late Subramania Sharma or Sharmaji. While Ashok and his sister Anitha S are the coordinators, another sibling S Santhi is the patron of the choir formed in 1988, after the passing of MBS by Sharmaji and a group of like-minded musicians and prominent figures in the cultural circle of Thiruvananthapuram.<\/p>\n