Group 1 - Adyar:

The organizers were all ready and waiting when the buses filled with students arrived at 10 am. The bright day added to the already high spirits of the youth, who were from different schools and colleges like Pon Vidyashram, Presidency college, Ethiraj College and Carnatica's own music schools in Adyar and R A Puram. Attired in the Indian tri-colour of orange, white and green, they were a great feast to the eye. The Indian flag was then hoisted at the Youth Hostel, where familiar figures in the music field such as R Ramachandran, K Sunderarajan, Revathy Sankaran, as well as musicians Vasundhara Rajagopalan, R Suryaprakash, Nisha Rajagopalan and Savitha Narasimhan were present. The flag hoisting was followed by the well-known Indian flag song, Jhanda ooncha rahe hamara. This was sung with great fervour by a group of over 100 students. Many other patriotic songs were also rendered by the students under the leadership of Smt. Vasundhara Rajagopalan.

After this brief function, the group wound up and proceeded Dr. MGR Janaki College, Adyar. They were in for a pleasant surprise with the entire college waiting to welcome them with warm applause. The girls from Adarsh Higher Secondary School joined the existing group of students, and together they all rendered a few more songs with total sruti, clarity and good diction.

Following this halt, the stronger group then headed for the Mylapore Fine Arts Club. The auditorium was such a heartwarming sight. Hundreds and hundreds of students had assembled there from various other schools and colleges in Chennai. There was a battalion of students from the Little Flower Convent for the Blind and Deaf and several more from Vivekananda College, Loyola College, the Padma Seshadri group of schools, Ramakrishna Mission, Jaigopal Garodia, Shrine Velankani, Vana Vani, Sivan Arts Academy and so on. From this, a small group was taken to Raga Sudha Hall on Luz Church Road where they would be joined by Group 2.

Group 2 - T Nagar:

The students of Carnatica, T Nagar branch, led by Mrs. Ganga Ramachandran, Venkatsubramanian and Mrs. Banumathi were taken to Bharath Kalachar. Simultaneously, vocalist Rukmini Ramani led a group of about 80 students, all neatly attired in white, from the Sivan Arts Academy. The students from Shrine Velankani was led by the staff of that school. All these groups assembled at Bharath Kalachar, where there were already about 2000 students! Mrs. Y G Parthasarathy, in her own way, gave a very inspiring speech. A few more students from Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan joined the other group (Carnatica, Sivan Arts Academy and Shrine Velankani) and proceeded to Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, where they were received by the Secretary of the Sabha, Sri. R Yagnaraman. Patriotic songs were rendered here and at the Sivan Arts Academy. The group was growing with more students joining them at the latter point. This group was led by Smt. Rukmini Ramani herself. 

This group again proceeded to the Raga Sudha Hall in Luz, where they were joined by Group 1. Sri. S V Krishnan welcomed both groups and needless to say, the hall was bursting at the seams with children! A few students of Carnatica, and representatives from each school went on stage and sang along with Smt. Vasundhara Rajagopal and Umashankar.

The entire team then left for a well-deserved lunch break at MFAC. After a sumptuous meal, students from various schools and colleges again went on stage and sang more patriotic songs, led by Vasundhara Rajagopalan, Suryaprakash, Umashankar and K N Shashikiran.

Following this was the halt at Narada Gana Sabha around 3 pm. The Secretary, Sri. R Krishnaswamy welcomed the group. Violinist Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan and vocalist Kadayanallur Venkataraman gave their blessings to the students, while young star P Unnikrishnan joined the band of students.

The march began again, and this time, the destination was The Music Academy. Dr. V V Srivatsa, who had also very thoughtfully arranged a tea break, received the group. The addition to the party was vocalist Seergazhi Sivachidambaram. The emotive rendition of songs by the students of Little Flower Convent for the Blind and Deaf touched the hearts of one and all.

The whole group then proceeded to the culminating point - the Gandhi statue at Marina Beach. The stage was set up by Sri Krishna Sweets. An entire galaxy of stars was present for the grand evening. Among them were P Unnikrishnan, Nithyashree Mahaedvan, Vijay Siva, Seergazhi Sivachidambaram, Rukmini Ramani, Umashankar, Rajesh Vaidya, S V Sekhar, Kunnakudi Bala, Mohan Parasaran, Vaishali (actress), K N Shashikiran and Chitravina Ganesh.

The much awaited moment arrived when this glittering array of stars sang songs like Aduvome pallu paduvome, Shanti nilava vendum, Tayin manikkodi, Vidudalai and Vande mataram in unison. Seergazhi Siva Chidambaram sang Vellippani malayin solo, while Rajesh Vaidya rendered Raghupati raghava with emotion. On stage along with the stars several staff members of Carnatica and other schools were also present. The stars, after this singing session, left for the evening. Following this, each school came on stage and sang one patriotic song. Finally, students of Carnatica gave a host show.

Among the dignitaries present were Supreme Court advocate Mr. Parasaran, Mrs. Y G Parathasarathy, MLA Mr. Raja and RSS leader Subhash. The Kalasagara team from Annanagar was headed by Malathy Thothadri also joined the event. 

The evening finally came to an end with the Indian National Anthem, with Mother Earth showering her blessings on the huge gathering!

Acknowledgements:

Carnatica is very thankful to the following without whom, an event of this magnitude wouldn't have been possible:

• Mr. Murali of Sri Krishna Sweets, the primary sponsor, for his extreme generosity and positive attitude.
• The co-sponsors - Bisleri, Vasantha Bhavan, Pepsi, Ashok Leyland, Britannia and Hyundai.
• The press and media - in particular, Win TV, Jaya TV, NDTV, Doordarshan Kendra, Ananda Vikatan, The Hindu, Indian Express, Dinamani and Dinatani - for their whole-hearted support and cooperation. Without it, we couldn't have reached out to the general public.
• The Department of Police, Chennai for granting permission for this public event, for providing security and standing by us when we needed them. Special thanks to Sri. Ravi Arumugam, Ms. Uma Ganapathy Shastri and Mr. Sadagopa Ramanujam.
• Our sincere thanks are also due to K Y R A Appadurai for his tremendous support throughout the show.
• Shapre - for providing their premises for the practise sessions.
• Sri. R Krishnaswamy, for allowing us to use Narada Gana Sabha for our stage rehearsals.
• N Vijay Siva, Vasundhara Rajagopalan and Nisha Rajagopalan for helping us with the stage rehearsals.
• The management and staff of all the participating schools and colleges of Chennai.
• All the Sabhas and organisations.
• The NSS volunteers of Presidency College for ensuring coordination smoothly.
•  Ramachandran Nadar Group for providing the stage at Marina Beach.
• Mr. Prakash for the sound and lighting arrangements.
• R K Swamy Group, Coimbatore for providing the backdrop for the stage at Marina Beach.
• Saravanan for providing the furniture.
• The Director of Carnatica, Mohan Parasaran.
• All the parents and students of Carnatica's Gurukulam in making the show a grand success.
• The staff of Carnatica and other volunteers who toiled day and night for several weeks.
• S Sowmya and Kiranavali Vidyasankar - though not physically present, they guided us and provided moral support at each stage.

Kudos to K N Shashikiran for conceiving and executing such a mega event in such great style. He worked at least 22 hours each day, for several weeks, to make this happen!