“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” ? Nelson Mandela.
The above quote from Bharat Ratna Nelson Mandela aptly summarizes the centrality of language in the identity of a person as well as society. Hindi, the constitutionally recognised official language and the largest spoken language in India, enjoys the same significance along with its other sister languages in India.
Maurya Kala Parisar organises Hindi Utsav and Dinkar Awards every year to commemorate Hindi Divas (September 14th) and the birthday of Rashtrakavi (national poet) Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (September 23rd). The event is one of its kind in Kuwait to bring together students, teachers and other enthusiasts of Hindi. This year the event was organised in association with Indiansinkuwait.com, the popular Indian community portal in Kuwait, at Gurukul Auditorium on Friday November 1st, 2019.
Maurya Kala Parisar’s Hindi Utsav & Dinkar Awards event, running in its 6th year, is intended to promote awareness of Hindi literature and oratory among students of Indian schools in Kuwait. It includes competitions for students of class 6 to 12 and also felicitates students for their achievements in Hindi secondary examinations. Hindi teachers at Indian schools in Kuwait are also honored at the event for their valuable contribution.
The event was well attended with 81 students participating from 11 Indian schools in Kuwait, their teachers, parents, MKP members and other enthusiasts. This year, in addition to nominations from Indian schools, eligible students could also participate directly under open category by registering at Indiansinkuwait.com.
Competitions were held in three different segments at the event –
1) Hindi Poetry Recitation Competition for students of Class VI to VIII
2) Hindi Debate Competition for students of Class IX to XII
3) Self-written Hindi Poetry Competition for students of Class IX to XII
For transparency in assessment, participants were assigned badge numbers and were instructed not to divulge their name, school and any other personal detail during their performance. For each category, judges were assigned and were provided with pre-determined assessment parameters.
The event commenced with lighting the lamp by the founder member of MKP – Mr Ujwal Ritwik.
Poetry Recitation by students of class 6 to 8 was the first event. Children mesmerised the audience with their choices of poetry as well as their rendition. Students recited poems from the genre of patriotism, nature, philosophy etc while Sri Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and Harivansh Rai Bachchan appeared to be their favourite poets.
Results were as follows:
Poetry Recitation (Class 6 – 8)
1st prize - Mahek, Indian Community School Kuwait, Senior Salmiya (Open Category)
2nd prize - Sheeza Fatima, Indian Community School Kuwait, Amman (Open Category)
3rd prize - Vera Upadhyay, Indian Community School Kuwait, Amman (Open Category)
Hindi debate was the second event of the day with the topic being “Fear of climate change is baseless”. Each participant had two minutes to present their views on the matter and then one additional minute for rebuttal of other’s views.
Results were as follows:
Debate Competition (Class 9 – 12)
1st prize - Sanskar Mishra, Indian Community School Kuwait, Senior Salmiya
2nd prize - Anisha Bhattacharya, Smart Indian School
3rd prize - Al Aqsa Iqbal, Indian Learners’ Own Academy
It was encouraging to note that 17 students participated in the self-written poetry category, the most challenging event of the day. Participants’ choice of topic, their usage of imagery and rendition on stage were enthralling. Their depth of understanding and poise were well beyond their age.
Results were as follows:
Self-written Poetry Competition (Class 9 -12)
1st prize - Sanskar Mishra Indian Community School Kuwait, Senior Salmiya
2nd prize - Sabiha Khan Indian Community School Kuwait, Khaitan
3rd prize - Simran Indian Community School Kuwait, Khaitan
The competitions were judged by persons with experience in imparting Hindi education, reputed poets and authors in Kuwait including notable MKP members. Their names are:- Mr Sunil Sonsi, Ms Madhulekha Mohta, Ms Radhika Bhardwaj, Ms Vijaya Nair, Ms Nazneen Ali, Mr Syed Qamar Minto, Dr Navneet Gandhi, Ms Sujata Kashyap, Mr Ujwal Ritwik and Mr Devesh Kumar.
MKP continued with its tradition of honoring the students for their excellence in Hindi secondary examinations. One Student from each Indian school was awarded with a trophy and certificate. Names of students and their schools are mentioned below:
Name of School - Achiever's Name
Carmel School, Khaitan - Kanchan Kaur
Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Pvt School (DPS), Ahmadi - Shruti Tyagi
Indian Central School, Abbasiya - Clarin Menezes
Indian Community School Kuwait, Khaitan - Kimpreet Kaur
Indian Community School Kuwait, Senior Branch Salmiya - Hiba Hameed
Indian Community School Kuwait, Amman Branch - Neha Merin Robin
Indian Educational School (Bhavan's), Abbasiya - Sana Nazim Parkar
Indian Learners Own Academy, Abbasiya - Zandra Catherine
Salmiya Indian Model School, Salmiya - SimarPreet Kaur
MKP honoured 13 Hindi teachers from Indian schools for their exemplary contribution in teaching the language. Their names are as follows:
Name of School - Teacher's Name
Carmel School, Khaitan - Ms Shikha Singh
Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Pvt School (DPS), Ahmadi - Ms Archana Pant
Indian Community School, Junior Branch Salmiya - Ms AmandeepKaur
Indian Community School, Khaitan - Ms Neelam Gupta
Indian Community School, Khaitan - Ms PriyankaDagar
Indian Community School Kuwait, Senior Branch Salmiya - Ms Kanwaljit Kaur Lamba
Indian Community School Kuwait, Senior Branch Salmiya - Ms Kanwaljeet Kaur Sabharwal
Indian Educational School (Bhavan's), Abbasiya - Ms Swarna Saini
Indian Educational School (Bhavan's), Abbasiya - Ms Vandana Kinger
Indian Learners Own Academy, Abbasiya - Ms Madhuri Jha
Indian Learners Own Academy, Abbasiya - Ms Parveen Rani
Salmiya Indian Model School, Salmiya - Ms Varsha K
Smart Indian School Ms Mini Nair
The entire event was very lively anchored by Ms Prerna, whose apt remarks kept the audience engrossed. Snacks and beverages were arranged for all the attendees.
Mr Amitabh Ranjan, Second Secretary, Indian Embassy Kuwait was the chief guest at the event. Other guests of honor included Dr.Ram Mohan Reddy, COO, National Insurance Co., Kuwait and Mr. Anil Parashar, Resident Manager, Oriental Insurance Co., Kuwait. The Chief Guest was highly appreciative of MKP’s efforts to promote Hindi at this land away from our own country. He fondly remembered the contribution of Mr Ramdhari Singh Dinkar in Hindi literature.
Mr Sabir Ansari, President of MKP welcomed the chief guest and other guests of honor. He presented an account of the day’s events and congratulated all the participants and teachers. He himself recited a poem from Dinkarji’s famous epic – Rashmirathi – in a very soulful way. Representatives of Indiansinkuwait.com, Mr. Wilson D’souza and Mr. George Mathew graced the occasion and provided all the support.
A special accolade was added to the event with the release of poetry collection “Shabd Nihshulk Hain” by the popular Kuwait based author Dr Navneet Gandhi. At audiences’ request, she narrated a portion of her new book at the event.
The event had an impromptu kavi-sammelan with fervent request from audiences compelling the members from Writer’s Forum to narrate their poems at the venue. Poetries of Sri Sunil Sonsi, Syed Qamar Minto, Radhika Bhardwaj, Madhulekha Mohta and Nazneen Ali were hugely applauded.
MKP General Secretary, Mr. Manoj Mishra, delivered the vote of thanks to all the participants, teachers, judges, volunteers and audiences whose presence made the event a grand success.
The successful celebration of 6th Hindi Utsav & Dinkar Awards was the culmination of tedious ground work put in by MKP volunteers. They included – Manoj Mishra, Radhika Mishra, Sabir Ansari, Bushra Sabir, Ujwal Ritwik, Divya Ritwik, Abhay Kashyap, Sujata Kashyap, Devesh Kumar, Mithilesh Pandey, Abdul Hamid Nakhwa, Afsar Alam, Md. Mahtabuzzaman, Nehal Ahmad, Sanjeev Kumar, Shankar Tiwari, Prerna, Syed Sabih, Uday Prakash, Nivedita Sinha and several others.
Maurya Kala Parisar, registered with Embassy of India in Kuwait, is a cultural and social association of people in Kuwait connected to the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Formed in 1995, it is dedicated to promotion of arts, culture and heritage of the region through events and activities of interest to Indian Community in Kuwait.