THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The children who lost their loved ones in the Wayanad disaster made the state school art festival a stepping stone to recovery. They danced on the opening stage with the lyrics 'thinkalum thaarangalum thoovelli kathir chinnum thunkamaam vaanin chottilanente vidyaalayam'.

Vaiga, Veena, Anjali, Shivapriya, Rishika, Sadhika and Ashwini, who are studying in classes eight, nine and ten, won the applause of the viewers whose eyes were filled with tears. After the dance, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assured them that the Vellarmala GVHSS, which lost 33 students in the landslide, would be rebuilt. The Chief Minister's response was to the request of S Anjali in the dance group.

After the inauguration, the Chief Minister and the ministers came down from the stage and they met the children. Following this, the Chief Minister spoke to them holding them close and took a photo with them. Anjali told Kerala Kaumudi that she was hopeful and happy about the Chief Minister's words. Apart from the Chief Minister, Ministers V Sivankutty and K Rajan also shared time with the children.

All the teachers and mothers of the school were filled with tears when they saw the dance. The lines 'Vellari malayude thaazhvaaratthoru vidyaalayamunde punnappuzhayude oram chernnoru pallikkoodamunde...' took the audience by storm. The children learned the dance in just five days. Thrissur Narayanankutty's lyrics were choreographed by choreographer Anil Vettikkatiri.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that this year's art festival is a vision of survival beyond artistic expression. He was inaugurating the 63rd State School Arts Festival at Thiruvananthapuram Central Stadium. He said that it was a pleasure to see the students of Vellarmala GHS who had survived the Mundakkai and Chooralmala disaster come to perform the group dance on the opening stage.

"It is a great joy to see these children come to announce that they are going to survive, despite going through a severe disaster."

-K Rajan,

Revenue Minister