By Dr Tania Saili Bakshi
Pic Courtesy: Sachin Chauhan
Dehradun, 19 Feb: With the aim of inspiring school students to engage in the joys of speaking in their mother tongue, an oration event was organised by Valley of Words, Dehradun, today, as a precursor to the International Mother Language Day celebrated all over the world on 21 February.
Over four dozen students from six prestigious schools of Dehradun district took part in the two-hour activity held at the VoW Café – Gallery – Library – Studio on Sahastradhara Road. Students from Brooklyn School, Doon International School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, ONGC, Himjyoti School, Oakgrove School, and RIMC were present to participate in this one-of-its-kind cultural event. They represented 25 languages spoken around the country on subjects such as environment, culture, urbanisation, motivation to achieve goals, urban and rural conflict, etc.
In its 7th year, Valley of Words celebrated International Mother Language Day to promote cultural diversity. The Festival Director, Dr Sanjeev Chopra, said, “VoW is privileged to celebrate Mother Language Day with renditions from 25 languages – it will perhaps be the most expansive coverage of spoken languages of India. We have Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi, Himanchali, Garhwali, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Dogri, Rajasthani, Assamese, Mizo, Kannada, Odia, Arunanchali, Manipuri, Gujarati, Urdu, Kumaoni, Sanskrit, Nepali, Telugu, Hindi, English and Bhojpuri. Team Valley of Words would like to thank the Principals and staff of the schools for their support in organising this programme.”
Students of class nine and above, some turned out in their traditional gear, recited verse and prose in their mother tongues from across the country. The hill-state was equally represented by students who spoke in Garhwali, Kumaoni and Nepali. The thought behind the event was to promote a sense of pride in one’s mother tongue as, when languages fade, opportunities, traditions, memory, unique modes of thinking and expression are lost. Valley of Words took this opportunity to do its bit in promoting linguistic and cultural diversity through one’s spoken mother tongue.
Jyoti Dhawan, Curator for International Mother Language Day, Valley of Words, stated, “Celebrating richness of linguistic diversity International Mother Language Day is observed on 21 February, every year. A child grows up speaking the mother’s language of communication which has a unique identity reflecting the prismatic hues of the geographical location, traditions and lifestyle specific to the area. It is imperative to promote linguistic and cultural diversity through the mother language and Valley of Words strives to do just that by celebrating this day in a unique way! ”
The unique event, in its second edition, promises to be an annual featur on the cultural calendar of the valley’s prestigious schools as well as that of the Valley of Words Lit Fest with the aim of working towards celebrating the magic of world’s rich fabric of cultural diversity and promoting multi-lingualism in young minds.
Present on the occasion were Col Vikram Kadian, Commandant, RIMC, Sanjeev and Rashmi Chopra, Jyoti Dhawan, Shalini Butola, Sachin Chauhan, Rakshita Upadhyay, Sneha Bhardwaj, Kalpana Tomar, Megha Chauhan, Bikram Singh, Sunita Dikshit, Rachna Sharma, Rina Bakshi, Pramod Sharma, Ashutosh Kumar amongst many others.
