“In the Hindu religion and Sanadhana dharma there is no concept of believers. In our country, we are all seekers,” said Managing Director and Group Editor of News Today, Maalai Sudar and Talk Media, T R Jawahar at the prize distribution function of Talk Media’s city-wide Mega Kolu Contest 2018 held at Vani Mahal at T Nagar Tuesday evening.
The contest as part of Navarathri festivities was conducted to promote the unique Kolu tradition that has an important role in taking the Hindu culture to the next generation.
Speaking at the event, Jawahar touched upon the uniqueness and tolerance of Hinduism. He said, “In other religions, there are believers. But, it is not the case in Hinduism. It offers us the freedom to choose our place, to select our path, to pick our process and we can measure our progress.”
Drawing from his knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita, he explained the ‘seeker’ concept of Hinduism. He said, “In Hindu religion, we can ask any questions. In Mahabaratha Arjuna posed a lot of complex questions to Lord Krishna. Krishna replied to all questions patiently and in the end said that He has answered everything, and it is upto Arjuna to take it or leave it.”
“The democratic nature of the Hindu religion can be seen here as Krishna did not compel Arjuna to listen to him. At the same time, it does not mean we can do anything. But the boundaries of Hindu religion are more,” he explained.
Talking about the kolu contest, Jawahar said that people’s expectation and participation in ‘Talk Media’s Mega Kolu Contest’ is usually high due to the uniqueness of our competition.
“From 2004 to 2012 we held the competitions every year. After a gap of five years, we are back again,” he said.
Talking about Talk Media, he said, “We are a commercial venture and there is no doubt in that. But, we have set lofty goals for ourselves. I envisioned Talk not just a media but as a movement and a mission. We have crossed 15 years now. Our main aim to promote small-businesses and small-time businessmen through our ads and at the same time, we give quality news and articles.”
Gesturing to the audience, Jawahar in jest said, “You are our final judge. We have judged your Kolu, it is in your hands to judge us.”
EVERYBODY IS A WINNER
Executive Director, News Today, Maalaisudar and Talk Media, Kausalya Jawahar was the brain behind the mega event that received hundreds of entries from across the city.
She said, “To conduct a Kolu competition spanning 16 Talks is a big challenge. There are no winners or losers here. The first five places saw heavy competition in all regions. It is just for namesake that we had to give a number to the top five. The kolus were all equally beautiful.”
Talking about this year’s Kolu highlights, Kausalya said, “A lot of people had made kolus with themes commemorating 750 years of Saint Vedanta Desikar, 100th year samadhi of Sai Baba, and on the life of Ramanujar. Though the themes were the same, the individual Kolus were presented in uniquely.”
Kausalya also said that among all the areas in Chennai that the Talk team judged, it was Nanganallur residents who had some of the best Kolu displays in the city.
“Among the 40 houses we visited, we have selected 30 Kolu displays for the prize as they were all beautiful,” she said.
Mylapore and T Nagar were also not far behind as they also had stiff competition, said Kausalya. She appreciated the residents for building up their Kolu display after some of it were destroyed during the 2015 floods in the city.
Highlighting the importance of traditional Kolu displays in the nine- day Navarathri festival, Kausalya said, “In our culture, figurines and idols are given a lot of importance. Every swaroopam has a speciality. The Kolu festival helps children learn our culture through stories.”
Addressing the winners, she said all winners here have the duty to not just to keep beautiful kolus, but also to do it without error to transfer the correct knowledge to the next generation.
HOW THEY WERE JUDGED?
To enable a fair procedure for selecting the best Kolus from over hundreds of entries received by Talk Media, Executive Director Kausalya Jawahar said that the following basic points were taken into consideration:
1. First impression
2. Kolam – Not all people rich and will be able to put up grand displays, so we wanted to reward people for their effort to paint kolams.
3. Mark for parks
3. Unique themes
4. Supportive work for theme to show creativity
5. Individual attention and presentation.
6. Kolu heirarchy (top step for Gods, followed by devas, humans, animals and plants).