The golden hand that holds the conch

A CONCH signifying the beauty and tenacity of the ocean that shapes it, placed on a hand adorned with bangles that represent the seven musical notes and the seven colours, all of which rests on a book – the ultimate representation of knowledge.

- APARNA NAIR

Envisaging this requires more than mere thought. There was a vision involved: of how the creative piece would become the trophy that would be the hallmark of the Kerala State School Arts Festival.

The story about how the Golden Cup was ideated is one that does the rounds every year during the annual festival.

Write-ups about how there was a lacuna felt by the legendary Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon, who was the judge for literary events in the 1985 edition of the festival, when he felt that the Nehru Cup had its trophy all glitzy whereas an event like the state school arts fete was lacklustre with no shimmer of gold on a trophy.

There was a pressing need for a tradition to be started in connection with the gala event, which had all the potential to run for time immemorial adding to the cultural value of the state and artists, he felt.

This he shared with Chirayinkeezhu Sreekantan Nair, who too was a judge, evaluating the artwork of the contestants. A Fine Arts college product and a teacher, Sreekantan Nair did the artwork for the famed children's magazine Balarama.

The entire conversation regarding the need for a trophy cast in gold reached former Education Minister T M Jacob who was so thrilled by the idea that he took it upon himself to get a trophy in gold done and instituted by the next year.

Entries were called for designs. However, none of the entries were appealing. Yet a gold trophy weighing six sovereigns was ready for the 1986 edition. It, however, did not satisfy its ideators.