Indian Consulate Event
Here is a press report of the event
Indian Abroad Online reported on the event...
Shashi Tripathi, second from right, India's consul general in New York, with children who participated in the Children's Day celebrations at the consulate on Nov. 14. Children's Day is celebrated on the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. (Photo: Shiv K. Chander) By JEET THAYIL
Check out the web site link at : http://www.indiaabroadonline.com/PublicAccess/ia-11242000/Community/Childrenday.html
Check out the web site link at : http://www.indiaabroadonline.com/PublicAccess/ia-11242000/Community/Childrenday.html
NEW YORK-- 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, in an art event.
Around 125 children 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," Consul General Shashi 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. "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 Theatre'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. The Kerala-born Rajendran is a specialist in the Tanjore style of painting which she taught to the children. The consulate agreed not only to display the artwork but also to introduce the school children from New Jersey to Indian school children from Queens's PS 226. 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.
"The children looked at photographs of Indian dance, heard classical and folk music, saw shadow puppets, and pictures of Indian architecture, all of which inspired their art."
Park Theatre'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. Additional support was provided by Westwood Regional School District, the Berkeley School PSO, the Westwood/ Washington Township Education Foundation, Duggal Color Projects and the Consulate General of India.
Around 125 children 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," Consul General Shashi 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. "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 Theatre'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. The Kerala-born Rajendran is a specialist in the Tanjore style of painting which she taught to the children. The consulate agreed not only to display the artwork but also to introduce the school children from New Jersey to Indian school children from Queens's PS 226. 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.
"The children looked at photographs of Indian dance, heard classical and folk music, saw shadow puppets, and pictures of Indian architecture, all of which inspired their art."
Park Theatre'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. Additional support was provided by Westwood Regional School District, the Berkeley School PSO, the Westwood/ Washington Township Education Foundation, Duggal Color Projects and the Consulate General of India.
