By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 16 Oct: Leading up to its grand finale on the 12th-13th of November, the Valley of Words curated a one-day event with its partners Yi, Dehradun Chapter, and CII, Uttarakhand, at IRDT, Auditorium.
Opening to a full-house with guests, parents and students in full attendance, the event began with lamp-lighting with a soulful rendition of the Shlokas by students of Him Jyoti School.
The Chief Guest at the event was Iva Ashish Srivastav, Managing Director, Jal Jeevan Mission. Also present were members of the Jury Ruby Kumar, Ratna Manucha and Bharati Nagalia, who appreciated the performances put together by the young-enthusiastic students of half a dozen schools from Dehradun.
A short video presentation on the five shortlisted books under the Children’s Literature Vertical was followed by students of Oceanic International School, Mondrian House, DIS Junior Wing, Brooklyn School, Him Jyoti and Maa Anandmayee Memorial School performing skits, mime and book reading based on the five books. The 3- hour event saw a number of performances with each outdoing the other.
Prize distribution was held for winners of Book Review and Crossword competition and all the students were felicitated for their participation at the event.
Post lunch, Yi, Dehradun Chapter, and CII, Uttarakhand, hosted five schools: St Kabeer Academy, Oak Grove School, Him Jyoti, Scholars’ Home and Maa Anandmayee Memorial School under the Valley of Words’ ‘Iti Natya’ banner. Adding yet another feather to its cap, the debut of Iti Natya competition attracted a host of schools from the valley who brought alive the love for theatre based on the theme ‘75 years of India’ not only in English and Hindi but in Sanskrit as well
The Chief Guest at the event was Namami Bansal, Additional Secretary, Technical Education. The jury comprised Sharmila Bhartari, Rinku Singh and RJ Devanggana, who appreciated the hard-work and focus of the young students in bringing onto the stage the beautiful amalgamation of creative expression.
Dr Sanjeev Chopra, Festival Director, Valley of Words delivered the ‘Thank you Note’. He congratulated the school students, staff and volunteers of Yi, CII and VoW for curating the event and taking the written word on to the stage.
