Yuva Dasara gets the axe

A suggestion was made to do away with film festival also

Last year among the many programmes that were organised as part of Dasara, if there was one event that resounded with success, it was ‘Yuva Dasara’.

Every evening hundreds of youth arrive at the venue to celebrate music and dance at the Maharaja’s College Grounds.

This year however, if politicians and babus have their way, Yuva Dasara will most probably get the axe. The first nail in the coffin for Yuva Dasara was pinned at the preliminary meeting held at the office of deputy commissioner here on Monday.

Medical education and district in-charge minister S A Ramdas chaired the preliminary meeting and assented to the suggestion given by MLC Siddaraju to stop the Yuva Dasara for this year. The reason exclaimed was that the state was going through drought and expenses had to be kept under limit.

For the scores of youth, who await the event, the decision is bound to be disheartening. Whether it was Kannada playback singers Nanditha and Hemanth, who wrapped up last year’s Yuva Dasara by enthralling the crowd with hit numbers from movies such as ‘Raj’, ‘H2O’, ‘Mungaaru Male’ or ‘My Autograph’  or the ever popular songs from hit Hindi movies such as ‘Qayamat se Qayamat Tak’ by veteran singer Udit Narayan, this year’s Dasara is set to be a dampener for youth even before the celebrations have started.

For youngsters who were wanting more of Vishal-Shekar duo, who cast a spell on audience by belting out numbers such as ‘Bachna eh haseeno’, the decision taken on Monday could be the end of road for ‘Yuva Dasara’.

Meanwhile, decision on the Dasara film festival was kept on hold. Even though a suggestion was made to do away with the film festival as the crowds were dwindling in theatres during the Dasara film festival.