VIOLIN DUET: Ganesh and Kumaresh, violinists performed at Saarang's inaugural concert at the IIT-Madras on Tuesday evening.

IIT Madras' cultural festival begins with a classical music concert IIT Madras' annual festival begins with a classical music concert

When the curtains went up for this year's edition of `Saarang' on Tuesday evening with the Ganesh-Kumaresh classical music concert, the co-ordinators drove home the unofficial theme for this year's edition of the fest: colour, culture and country.

The mascot `Mayura - the peacock,' the national bird, symbolises the diverse colours of the country and its culture, as Rajesh Kumar Reddy, Cultural Secretary of Arts, explains.

"We decided to make `Saarang' as India-centric as possible this year," Hemanth Kumar, Cultural Secretary of Literary events adds. "We've included folks arts, puppetry and even classical dance as a part of the festival this time."

"Culture is different to everyone. For some it's music. For some, it's theatre. For some, it's dance, fine arts. Saarang is the place for everyone to come together and realise their individual self," says Hemanth.

Earlier in the evening, Rajiv Menon, chief guest for the inaugural function, struck a similar chord recalling his days at Kendriya Vidyalaya in IIT and his memories of `Mardi Gras' (as `Saarang' was called back then). The cultural festival was an influence in his life, he said. "Culture is not what you inherit from parents but from people around you," the filmmaker added.