When students from schools across Kerala flock to Kannur next week to participate in the state school youth festival, all eyes are on a golden conch balanced on a golden hand. Whoever performs their way to the coveted trophy have poet Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon to thank for it.
The poet was peeved at a lack of a visible incentive for the winners when he was invited to judge the students' performance at the fest held in Ernakulam in 1985. He contrasted the mundane rewards with the golden cup that awaited the winners of the Nehru Cup football tournament that was being held at the Maharaja's College ground that year.
He took up the matter with the then education minister T.M. Jacob. The minister did not think twice. A 101 sovereign gold cup will be waiting for the winners next year, he promised.
However, only a 6 sovereign gold trophy materialized the next year. Jacob was still working on his promise. He decided to raise funds from students and teachers to make a grander cup. As much as Rs 2.5 lakh was raised, enough to buy the required gold in those days.
The design of the trophy was chosen competitively. Chirayinkeezhu Sreekandan Nair's design was a clear favorite. A jeweler in Pathanamthitta won the contract to make the trophy. Five artisans, led by T. Devarajan and V. Dandapani from Coimbatore, worked for a month and a half on the cup.
The final product was grander than promised with 117.5 sovereigns. The 1.5 foot statue went to the Thiruvananthapuram team in the arts festival held in Kozhikode in 1987. The students of the district won it for three consecutive years. However, since the cup was introduced, Kozhikode has won 16 times.
The eligibility for the trophy remained more or less same until 2009, when higher secondary students were also added to the school arts fest.
