Asan Memorial Matric Higher Secondary School

South Indian Poetry - Golden Jubilee Literary Meet

Golden Jubilee Literary Meet on South Indian Poetry "Kavisammelanam" and "Asan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram - 2014" at Ammu Swaminthan Auditorium, Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School, celebrated this special occasion on 4th and 5th April 2015, saw famous poets cherishing their experience and finally distributing mementos with the crowd in full cheer.

Day One

On 4th April 2015, Day one of the Global Jubilee Literary Meeting started with Welcome Address by Smt, Shyamala Jayaprakash, General Secretary, Asan Memorial Association. The Presidential Address followed by Dr. C.K. Revi, President, Asan Memorial Association who spoke on the importance of the meet and also introduced the honors of the meeting. Sri. C. Radhakrishnan presented the inaugural address with loud applause from the audience. The start was then preceded by keynote Address, Sri. Satchidanandan on the topic - Indian Poetry: Modernism and After. He brought lots of informative thoughts to the audience who went speechless on knowing the insights of modernism and poetry after. The felicitation followed by Sri. Erode Thamizhanban, Sri. K.A. Johny and Sri. SS. Pillai.

Followed by the academic session in different southern languages; starting from Malayalam by Dr. E.K. Purushothaman, Chairman and Resource Persons; Dr. K.S. Revikumar, Dr. C.R. Prasad and Dr. P.M. Girish. The academic session in Tamil under Dr. Balu, Head, Dept. of Tamil, University of Madras and Resource Persons; Dr. Sirpi Balasubramaniam, Dr. C.V. Geetha and Smt. Vennila. The evening began with Telugu academic session under the presence of Dr. G.V.S.R. Krishna Murthy, Chairman and resource persons; Prof. N. Gopi and Dr. N. Sampath Kumar. The final event for the day was Kannada academic session with Dr. Vijayaraghavan, Chairman and resource persons; Dr. Narahalli Balasubramaniam and Dr. Y. Gopalakrishnan.

Day Two

On 5th April 2015, Day two of the Global Jubilee Literary Meeting started with the South Indian Poets Meet and Sharing of Poetic Experience. There was so much of real life learning experience to know on the poetic talent. All southern language poets shared their experience with great enthusiasm starting from Malayalam; Sri. Satchidanandan, Sri. Prabha Varma, Sri. Desamangalam Ramakrishnan, Smt. Girija P. Pathekkara, Smt. Sampreetha and Dr. Raveendraraja; Tamil; Sri. Erode Thamizhanban, Smt. Vennila and Smt. Sukritharani; Telugu; Prof. N. Gopi, Sri. Devaraju Maharaju, Sri. Ethakotta Subbarao and Dr. Shankara Rao; Kannada; Sri. Lakshmipathi Kolara and Smt. D. B. Razia.

Evening was the time to honor Sri. Prabha Varma with "Presentation of Asan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram - 2014" (Asan Prize for Poetry). The welcome address was given by Dr. C.G. Rajendra Babu followed by Presidential Address by Dr. C.K. Revi who then called Dr. A.V. Annoop to introduce Sr. Prabha Varma, the poet. He shared valuable information about the poet. Sri. Perumbadavom Sreedharan, President, Kerala Sahithya Akademi presented the award and address witnessed and applauded by audience. Dr. E.K. Purushothaman did the reading of citation and the presentation of citation was by Sri. K.S. Sethumadhavan. Special address by Sri. Satchidanandan and response by Sri. Prabha Varma. The mementoes were presented to all the South Indian Poets in the presence of Smt. Shyamala Jayaprakash, General Secretary, Asan Memorial Association. The function ended gracefully with vote of thanks.

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Vidyarambham '14 - Education is a powerful tool

Vidyarambham is a Hindu tradition observed on the Vijayadashmi day during the Navaratri festival; introducing young children into the world of learning and the ritual is usually performed by parents, grandparents, elders, writers, teachers and other eminent personalities associated with literature assuming the role of a Guru to the children. “Vidhya” means education and “aarambham” means the beginning.

Solely designed for children to begin their education and to bring forth the wealth of true knowledge; the children sit on the lap of the guru and the guru writes “Hari Shree” on the child’s tongue with a golden ring representing blessings from the Goddess of Learning - Goddess Saraswati. The child then writes “Hari Shree Ganapathye Namaha” in Malayalam/Tamil with the right index finger, with the help of the Guru, on a bed of raw rice or sand.

The Vidyarambham ceremony was conducted at the Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School Premises on Friday October 3^rd, 2014. On this auspicious day we had 24 students participating in the ceremony. The children had their Vidyarambham initiated and performed by Dr. C. G. Rajendra Babu and Dr. E.K. Purushothaman.

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ASAN ONAM DAY CELEBRATION AND STAMP RELEASE

Revelling in the festive spirit of Onam and week-long cultural activities, Asan Memorial Association (AMA) concluded its Onam celebration function on Saturday September 13th, 2014. The function held within the premises of Asan Memorial School with traditional fervour and gaiety had national award winning veteran Malayalam actor and theatre artist KPAC Lalitha as the Chief Guest.

AMA presented a special stamp and postal cover commemorating the Golden Jubilee Celebrations. Chennai city Postmaster General, Mervin Alexander who was the Guest of honour released the stamp and postal cover at the function.

Speaking at the event, Postmaster General Mervin Alexander told the audience present that the significance of releasing stamps lies in the fact that the selective event is now etched into history. "Milestones such as these won't be forgotten with the passage of time," he said.

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ONAM CELEBRATIONS @ THE ASAN SCHOOL PREMISES

Asan Memorial Association (AMA) celebrated Onam as part of their ongoing Golden Jubilee Celebrations. Preparing for the homecoming of the legendry King Mahabali, Onam is one of the biggest festivals of Kerala celebrated with great gusto by all Malayalees across the world. The festival symbolizing the harvest season, showcases the best of Kerala culture and tradition.

To mark the celebrations, AMA had organized “Pookkalam” and “Kaikottikali” competitions at the Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School on Saturday 30th August, 2014. The competition usually conducted within the school, was for the first time open for participation to all the Malayali associations across the State.

“Pookkalam” also known as 'Aththa-Poo' during the Onam festival is basically a floral art competition which is a colorful and joyous event. The design of the Pookkalam typically revolves around the theme of Onam. Adding fervor and spirit of the festival of Onam is the elegant dance form “Kaikottikali” also known as “thiruvathirakali” traditionally performed by 8-10 dancers. The dance depicting unity and coordination has the dancers gracefully move in clockwise and anti-clockwise manner clapping their hands around the pookkalam with a lit traditional brass lamp “Nilavilakkku” in the centre. It is a captivating sight to watch the group of women performing the dance; with the rhythm of the steps and movements in sync as they sing songs in praise of the great King Mahabali; in their traditional Kerala attire consisting of gold bordered off-white mundu-neriyathu and their hair decked with fragrant jasmine flowers.

The competition had groups or teams participating in large numbers contesting for the first prize of Rs. 25,000, second and third prize of Rs.15,000 and Rs.10,000 respectively.

Mrs. Rajani, Meena Ram Mohan and Mrs. Geetha Manoharan were the judges for the “Pookkalam” event. The 11 teams that participated for the Pookalam competition were judged based on the circular form, use of flowers and creativity. Kannur Cannons Team won the first place followed by A.V.S team and Chennai Souhardavedhi team in the second and third place respectively.

Subsequent to the floral art, Kaikottikali was performed by seven teams consisting of eight members in each. Mrs.Kala Sasikumar, Mrs.Padma Anil Kumar, Mrs. Asha Anand, and Mrs.Rekha were the judges for “Kaikottikali” event. The Chennai Kairali Association won the first place, Bollineni Hill Side Association of Malayalees and Madras Yogakshema Sabha came in the second and third place respectively.

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Genesis 2014

The two-day cultural fest “GENESIS 2014” organized by Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School and Kumaran Asan Memorial Higher Secondary School, which began on August 13th in the Ammu Swaminathan Auditorium at the Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School campus came to a close on August 14th.

GENESIS 2014 offers a platform for students from various schools to let loose their spirit and become a part of the excitement and energy of this event. It is a chance for everyone to unleash their creativity and showcase their talent. The event attracts entries in huge numbers from participants across schools in Chennai to compete.

The Chief guests for the inauguration of the cultural extravaganza were Film Director Prabhu Solomon, Mrs. Rekha Thankappan - CEO of Dr. Mohan’s Group of Institutions, and Dr. Gautham Babu – Executive Director, Asan Memorial Educational Institutions amidst great enthusiasm and eagerness. The closing ceremony of the cultural fest had Film Director Vijay and Actor Amitash Pradhan “Velaiyilla Pattathari” fame, wherein they presided over the valedictory function and gave away the prizes to the winners respectively.

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Asan Golden Jubilee Celebrations

CURTAIN RAISER: 50 YEARS OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE 2015

Approaching the 50th year of its journey of academic excellence in 2015, Asan Memorial Association, had its curtain raiser of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations on Sunday, July 27th 2014. It was the vision of Sri. A. K. Gopalan Chairman & Founder Secretary with few other friends who were eminent literary figures and those deeply interested in public affairs decided to start and establish an independent memorial to Mahakavi Kumaran Asan in the city of Madras. What started as a small temporary shed has now bloomed into established and successful high-quality educational institutions that cater to the basic, vocational and higher educational needs of the children of malayalees and non-malayalees in the city of Chennai, under the stewardship of Sri. A. K. Gopalan fondly called AKG.

The inaugural function of the Golden Jubilee Celebration was held at the auditorium in the Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School campus, and started with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the guests on the dais and a prayer sung beautifully by the school students. The Chief Guest and the Guest of Honour for the evening were his Excellency Dr. K. Rosaiah, the Governor of Tamilnadu and Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organization respectively.

The function had the welcome speech addressed by Sashi Kumar, Chairman, Golden Jubilee Celebration Committee while Dr. C. K. Revi, President of the Asan Memorial Association, presided over the function. "The Association has been giving the Asan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram and we are instituting a new award for journalism this year," he said. This was followed by Mrs. Shyamala Jayaprakash, General Secretary's introductory speech on the various scholarships that has been initiated. The evening concluded with a light music program.

Commemorating this special occasion, the new AKG Public School was launched at Pallikaranai, Chennai. The committee with a defined plan will be celebrating the Golden Jubilee with a host of events throughout the year 2014-2015. Onam Celebrations, education and literary seminars are among the many events planned.

To mark the 50th Anniversary, the association have initiated the Asan Golden Jubilee Merit-based Education Scholarships and the A K Gopalan Navathi Scholarship, in honour of its Founder, for school students based on economic need worth Rs. 50-75 lakh. They have also introduced awards including an Asan National News Media Award for Best Editorial Contribution with Social Relevance. It would look at journalistic work that has a transformative value in the print media in English and Indian languages. The nominations are expected to be received by February 2015 which is 2 months before the presentation of the award. The award will comprise a plaque, a citation and a cash component of Rs. 1,00,000/- and will be presented in April 2015 to coincide with Kumaran Asan's birthday.

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Press Meet - Asan Golden Jubilee Celebrations

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