Little did Durga K.R., a Class 5 student of Vignjana Vilasini Higher Secondary School, Thamarakulam, Alappuzha, imagine that her rendition of the Tamil hit ‘Munbe Vaa En Anbe Vaa’ in the school staff room in the presence of teachers would go viral. Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty shared the song on his Facebook page a couple of days ago.
Durga is now a star at Vathikulangara, Thekkekara village, Mavelikara, where she lives, and at her school that she joined only a month ago.
Teachers’ support
During the ‘Pravesanotsavam’ at the school, which has over 2,500 students, Durga sang the film song ‘Manjani Poonilavu Perattin Kadavingal’ on stage, to much praise. Recognising her talent, her teachers encouraged her, and soon asked her to the staff room to hear her sing again.
Durga’s rendition of the Tamil song, originally sung by Shreya Ghoshal for the film ‘Sillunu Oru Kadhal,’ during a break in the school staff room was recorded by her teacher L. Sugathan and posted on Instagram and Facebook. The post came to the attention of Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty who shared it on his Facebook page.
Durga has been learning music for nearly two-and-half years. As she was always inclined towards music, her parents sent her for initial lessons to Vijayachandran Unnithan at Adoor. Once COVID-19 spread, the lessons went online. Now, she is continuing her training under music director Bharanikavu Ajayakumar.
For a pan-India film
Durga has taken part in the sub-district level competitions as part of the State School Arts Festival when she was a student at Palickal Naduvilemuri Lower Primary School. Last year, she came first in light music and two other events. She has sung at a few ‘ganamela’ events, and has recorded an album with four songs for a local temple festival. It was through Rayban Orchestra at Alappuzha with whom she has done programmes that she got to sing a Malayalam song for a pan-Indian children’s film Lily that is being released in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi.
YouTube channel
Daughter of a cooperative bank secretary Ragesk K.R. and schoolteacher Geeethu K.R., Durga has a YouTube channel ‘Vanampadi’ where she uploads old Malayalam hits for viewers to enjoy.
