Chief Justice Shriram inaugurates Vaazhiya Vaiyagam at Bhavan

BY PRAKASH M SWAMY

The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Justice K R Shriram

said Tamil Nadu particularly Chennai is the cultural capital for

music arts, dance and literature. He was inaugurating the week-

long cultural festival organized by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in

association with Infosys Foundation last week.

He said Tamil Nadu could boast of an independent literary

tradition dating back to over 2,500 years from the Sangam era

and the Bhavan’s festival is an ideal platform to show respect to

Mother Earth.

“The cultural extravaganza is an expression of both concern and

love for Mother Earth. There are factors such as deforestation

and pollution that accelerate climate change and biodiversity

loss,” he said.

He said his father Rajendran had performed at Bharatiya Vidya

Bhavan in Mumbai and in London and he had accompanied him

as an mridangam percussionist. So it’s a home coming at

Bhavan, he said.

Saying our planet is our responsibility, the chief judge said

industrial waste, plastics, pollution of the water bodies and

marine wealth, deforestation pose a grave threat and the only

answer was solar eco friendly habits, renewable resources and

sustainable growth, he said.

Saint Thiruvalluvar in Tirukkural had praised Mother Earth in

Vaan Sirappu how even an ocean could shrink if clouds

downpour change course. Clouds that help produce grow does

not consume produce nor sea that helps marine life doesn’t

consume marine life but humans destroy Mother Earth, he

lamented.

There were innumerable references in ancient scriptures and

puranas to highlight the sacred duty to protect Mother Earth,

he said. Justice Shriram commenced his speech with an

invocation in Sanskrit.

Justice Anitha Sumanth, judge of the Madras High Court, one of

the guests of honours, in her speech referred to the close

connection between the Bench, the Bar and the Bhavan.

Starting from Justice MM Ismail, Justice Bakthavatsalam, Justice

Jagadeesan, Senior Advocate K Parasaran and others had

contributed a lot to the growth of music and dance.

“We must acknowledge the profound reverence for the

environment embedded in the cultural heritage. The festival is

a clarion call for the little that we can do toward preserving the

Mother Earth,” she said.

N Ravi, chairman of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, said the theme

revolves around Mother Earth and all the performances are

cantered around it. The series curated by deputy director of the

Bhavan K Venkitachalam includes music, dance, theatre,

villupattu and literary compositions.

Nalli Kuppuswamy Chettiyar, vice chairman of the Bhavan, Dr

Sudha Seshayyan, former vice chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Dr

MGR Medical University, M S Suryanarayanan, associate vice

president of Infosys and Infosys Foundation and K

Venkitachalam spoke on the week-long festival. The festival will

be held till Oct 27 and all are welcome to attend all the

celebrations including exhibitions for children.