05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Beats beyond books: Virudhunagar district's initiative ushers in a ‘chorus of change'
VIRUDHUNAGAR: The district, long recognised for the excellence of its students in board examinations, is actively making efforts to spot and nurture their artistic skills, with initiatives aimed at bridging the opportunity gap between the children from rural, low-income households and their urban counterparts.
Thaen Kural Thervu, one such initiative, through which the district administration selected 20 students from government and government-aided schools and has been offering them training in singing since January.
The students were offered in-person training during weekdays and online guidance sessions from the team members of composer James Vasanthan. Of them, six students have recently performed in a Tamil song in a film the composer has been working on.
A Asha (16), a student who performed in the song, told TNIE, "It feels surreal. The training I received from James Vasanthan sir's team truly helped improve my skills and learn singing professionally." Asha is a Class 11 student at the Government Higher Secondary School in Virudhunagar.
Passionate about singing right from a young age, Asha said, "I used to practice by recording my singing on my father's keypad mobile phone," and added that she aspired to become a playback singer.
A Ashwini, Asha's 14-year-old sister, also performed in the song. Their father -- P Anand Raj (37), a daily-wage labourer -- expressed his gratitude to the collector and the teachers for assisting his daughters pursue a passion, which is largely uncommon in his social circle.
