Each year the Boston Thamil (Sri Lankan) Association of New England presents a grand cultural extravaganza to celebrate the Thamil culture. This year's presentation was held at the Merrimack College, North Andover, MA on July 28, 2007. Professionals achors, beautiful costumes, grand backdrops along with phenomenal talent makes it a program worth watching.

In her address President Viji Thuraisingam spoke of the importance of the Kalai Vizha. “Over sixty children will participate in tonight’s program. The ascending quality of the programs resulting from the creativity of the coordinators and continuous increase in the number of participants shows what this event has come to mean to the Expatriate Srilankan community living in New England” said Thuraisingam. Dr. Anushya Murale was the MCEE and her Thamil and English were impeccable and was a pleasure to listen to.

The program opened with Amuthae Thamilae coordinated by Soruba Shan. A composition of Arunachala Kavirayar it paid tribute to Thamil. This was followed by Muthukal coordinated by Shahila Nvakumar. This was a very creative number where Bharatnatyam moves were danced to film songs. Dance, Music and Drama were represented in it. Mahakavi Subramanya Bhartiyar’s Theeratha Villaiyattu Pillai was presented beautifully in a dance choreographed by Chelvi Rajadurai and coordinated by Selvi Pradeepan.  
The next item “Penn Alaku” was brilliantly put together by Sudha Thillaiampalam. Set to the music from Anniyan describing the beauty of Iyengar Women, the fast paced music allowed for scintillating movements and yet was choreographed to bring out emotions.

Sumithira Anand’s students performed Balagopala Tarangam in Kuchipudi style. Anand added a unique touch by dressing the girl in Radha Krishna costumes. The students did a great job dancing on the edge of the brass plate while balancing pots on their heads and holding candles in their hands.
The next item Shruthi Layam coordinated by Suganthi Nanthakumar had very young children play the ancient instruments – Veena and Mrudangam. It was wonderful to see the presentation in a variety entertainment program. This was followed by a nice presentation of the Swathi Thirunal Tillana in Dhanashri by students of Sunanda Narayanan.

Suresh Sivasithamparam’s creativity never ceases to amaze! Each year he out does himself on the uniqueness of the event be it the costume, the music or the movements.  Even though they were the largest group they were very well coordinated. A mixture of classical, folk and film the presentation included a dance to Sudha Raghunathan’s rendition of Bhagashri Tillana. The famous “Devuda” song had the audience tapping their feet.

Thamil Hip Hop coordinated by Suba Vijey and choreographed by Priya Vijey was set to the music of a Sri Lankan Thamil artist by the name of Yogi B, and two Indian artists Dr. Burn and MC Jasz(Natchatra). The moves were very cool!

Rashiyar Matthiyyil was a dance set to a medley of film songs that even had the Bollywood number “Kajra Re”.  The dancers were very talented and the choreography creative. Selvi and Keertana Gnanapradeepan coordinated the event and the latter choreographed the piece.
Shahila Navakumar presented Vanniyan, a drama that described the life of a brave king of Vanni who martyred his life in defending to save the Kingdom of SriLanka.

Bhangara, Bharatanatyam and Bollywood have transgressed regional and national barriers and the next item Adalundan Padalai Kettu” coordinated by Anandan Navanandan was clear evidence. It was a Thamil Bhangara and the moves were groovy.. So one does wonder how do you say “Chak De Phattey” in Tamil??  

Boston Thamils on Cruise was a cute comedy coordinated by Ram Ramanan. Boston Swarangal 2007 a Karoake presentation coordinated by Kanthithasan Manickam brought the event to a close.

An event to remember, Kalai Vizha 2007 was a tribute to the immense hard work put in by the coordinators, artists and committee. The Srilankan team deserves hearty congratulations.

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