Pratibha Sangamam held

THRISSUR: The 52nd Kerala State School Youth Festival began here on Sunday on a remarkable note with winners of yesteryear coming together to share their experiences and interact with the new generation at the Corporation Stadium.Minister for Cooperation C N Balakrishnan inaugurated the event, with A Shahjahan, Director of Public Instructions, MLA Therambil Ramakrishnan, and Mayor IP Paul, along with other leaders attending the function. Sixteen talents from yesteryear had come down from various places, coming on stage and being introduced to the audience.The winners, who are in their 30s and 40s now, shared their experiences, ecstasy, excitement and grief during the competition of past years. From Sabeena who was the Kala Pratibha in 1987 and Ajith Kumar who took the title of Kala Tilakam in the same year, Poonnambili, Julian Jose, Rajiv Senan, Sagar V S, Bhavyalakshmi, Murali Bhatt, Archana, Srihari, Padmini, Dhanoop, Prachod Denzel, Adarsh, Shijith, Sreerag and Athira, from various years of previous competitions, spoke to the children.While all agreed it was indeed a welcome gesture to have remembered and invited them, some expressed concern that the winners of art competitions were often neglected by the government in terms of giving employment opportunities and lack of encouragement to pursue their talents off-stage.Almost all of them have turned to other vocations, though carrying their calling while they get time. Rajiv Senan, for example, is a young scientist at ISRO now, and said though he was honoured with the Young Scientist Award, his passion for art is still not being paid justice.