Indian Consulate Event - 2
Consulate holds novel celebrations on Nehru's birthday
Consul General Shashi Tripathi with school children from New Jersey at the Indian Consulate building in New York on the occasion of Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday on Nov. 14. (Photo: Jeet Thayil)
Check out the web site link at : http://www.indiaabroadonline.com/PublicAccess/ia-11242000/Community/Childrenday.html
Small and not-so-small children turned the staid environs of the Indian Consulate building in New York into an art gallery and dance theater as part of Consul General Shashi Tripathi's efforts to celebrate the birthday of the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. On Nov. 14, Nehru's birthday, designated Children's Day because of Nehru's legendary fondness for young people, the Indian Consulate brought together school children from Westwood Ridge School in New Jersey and Virgil I. Grissom Junior High School in Queens. Around 125 children from the third and fourth grades of both schools met at the consulate building in New York.
The children, who were between the ages of 9 and 13, watched a bhangra dance by students from the Virgil Grissom school. A film on Indian wildlife and the environment was screened, and several children exhibited Indian-themed art they had created.
"Children are impressionable and without prejudice," Tripathi told India Abroad. "When you make a good impression on the minds of the younger generation it lasts a long time."
She said children responded to audiovisuals more than to lectures, hence the focus on such things as film, art and dance.
And why all this effort to get through to school children? "Children are the future," Tripathi said. "We talk about peace and the environment but what better way to implement these ideas than through the young?"
The Virgil Grissom school, PS 226, has a special bilingual program for Punjabi-speaking students. Students who have only been in the United States for a few months are allowed to write in Punjabi until they are comfortable in English, teachers from the Queens school told India Abroad.
The children from Westwood were brought to the consulate by Meriam Lobel of the Park Theater's folk arts program. Lobel's "Folklore Fiesta" project facilitated the study of Indian art taught by art teacher Cynthia Henn and guest artist Priya Rajendran, a specialist in the Tanjore style of painting. The "Folkore Fiesta" project introduced school children to the "arts and cultural traditions of other cultures, particularly to other cultures in their own community," Lobel told India Abroad. Park Theater's "Folklore Fiesta" was made possible by funding from the New Jersey Council on the Arts, the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education and Young Audiences of New Jersey with generous support from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Consul General Shashi Tripathi with school children from New Jersey at the Indian Consulate building in New York on the occasion of Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday on Nov. 14. (Photo: Jeet Thayil)
Check out the web site link at : http://www.indiaabroadonline.com/PublicAccess/ia-11242000/Community/Childrenday.html
Small and not-so-small children turned the staid environs of the Indian Consulate building in New York into an art gallery and dance theater as part of Consul General Shashi Tripathi's efforts to celebrate the birthday of the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. On Nov. 14, Nehru's birthday, designated Children's Day because of Nehru's legendary fondness for young people, the Indian Consulate brought together school children from Westwood Ridge School in New Jersey and Virgil I. Grissom Junior High School in Queens. Around 125 children from the third and fourth grades of both schools met at the consulate building in New York.
The children, who were between the ages of 9 and 13, watched a bhangra dance by students from the Virgil Grissom school. A film on Indian wildlife and the environment was screened, and several children exhibited Indian-themed art they had created.
"Children are impressionable and without prejudice," Tripathi told India Abroad. "When you make a good impression on the minds of the younger generation it lasts a long time."
She said children responded to audiovisuals more than to lectures, hence the focus on such things as film, art and dance.
And why all this effort to get through to school children? "Children are the future," Tripathi said. "We talk about peace and the environment but what better way to implement these ideas than through the young?"
The Virgil Grissom school, PS 226, has a special bilingual program for Punjabi-speaking students. Students who have only been in the United States for a few months are allowed to write in Punjabi until they are comfortable in English, teachers from the Queens school told India Abroad.
The children from Westwood were brought to the consulate by Meriam Lobel of the Park Theater's folk arts program. Lobel's "Folklore Fiesta" project facilitated the study of Indian art taught by art teacher Cynthia Henn and guest artist Priya Rajendran, a specialist in the Tanjore style of painting. The "Folkore Fiesta" project introduced school children to the "arts and cultural traditions of other cultures, particularly to other cultures in their own community," Lobel told India Abroad. Park Theater's "Folklore Fiesta" was made possible by funding from the New Jersey Council on the Arts, the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education and Young Audiences of New Jersey with generous support from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.