Youth fest stresses the need for extra-curricular activities

The two-day state level Youth Festival, organised by the Department of Youth Services, Andhra Pradesh, on December 29 and 30, ended on a joyful note. Youth from several districts of the State participated in the cultural activities and displayed their talents. Multiple competitions were conducted including mono action, fancy dress, martial arts, mimicry and magical feats. The youth festival organised at Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan in Guntur drew applause and commendation from the general public and art lovers.

Mono-action by the youth and the social themes chosen by students reflected on their awareness of the happenings in the society. Magical shows by the youth exposed the shallowness of those who claim to have supernatural powers. The youth reiterated that the so called supernatural miracles were just cheap tricks to entice the gullible. MLC KS Lakshmana Rao, speaking on the occasion, opined, “Youth festivals of this kind not only relives one from the mundane of life but also ignites the minds of students who are overwhelmed by academics and the dull routine of corporate education. With the advent of corporate education, children have been forced to move away from extra-curricular activities which make them mentally and physically fit. Government schools have retained its integration of studies and games.

Rajeshwari Group from West Godavari and the M Gopala Krishna Group from Krishna district bagged the first and second prizes respectively in the One Active Play competitions. P Laliha Group from Vizinagaram and the R Shiva Kumar Group from Srikakulam won the first and second prizes respectively in martial arts. Srinivas Pandit from Vizianagaram and P Nagendra Prasad from Guntur bagged the first and second prizes respectively in ventriloquism. J Somasekhar from Vizianagaram and and B Shiva Shanker from Srikakulam secured the first and second prizes respectively in mimicry. L Srikanth from Anantapur and M Prashanthi from Srikakulam won in mono action. A Pawan Ashok Kumar from Vizianagaram and L Vinay Kumar from Chittoor got first and second prizes for magic show. P Santosh from Srikakulam and K Keerthi from Kurnool got prizes in fancy dress.

Noted mimicry artist Kasula Krishnam Raju and magician Y Venkateshwara Rao acted as judges in the two streams. SEPT coordinating officer Murali Krishna and SEPT CEO Srinivasarao and Guntur district manager Ramachandra Rao participated in the event.