Seventy-six-year-old Valsala from Eroor was shy and jittery as she stood on an open stage before a reasonably large crowd at Alinchuvadu near Palarivattom Bypass on Sunday. But, as she began singing the old Malayalam favourite Ellaarum chollanu..., her nerves were calmed and she even started enjoying herself.
Ms. Valsala was among the 32 people drawn from different walks of life and age groups who performed at the maiden show of ‘Aarkkum Paadam’ (Anyone can sing) organised by Alinchuvadu Nattuvelicham, an organisation of artistes, which has been conducting various programmes over the past five years.
“Thinking about organising a monthly programme landed us with this idea, which is aimed at giving a platform for lesser known talents confined to the obscurity of their homes,” said K.G. Shibu, a tablist and coordinator of Nattuvelicham.
The organisers had to shortlist 32 out of the 57 who signed up for the maiden show, which ran for three-and-a-half hours. The rest were promised priority the next time. The show will be held on the last Sunday of every month.
Registration
Interested singers will have to register their names along with the numbers they plan to perform at least four days ahead of the event so as to avoid repetition of songs and to arrange pre-recorded tracks. “Performers can either arrange the tracks on their own or we will download it for them. Though participants can also sing without the recorded tracks, we do not encourage it as it will be less appealing to the audience,” said Mr. Shibu.