Ahead of the Children’s day, the city is abuzz with a host of activities and programmes for the kids. While the sprawling Adivasi Ground has turned in to a fairy land where the 10th Anjali Children’s Festival is underway, Unit-IX Boys High School is all set to host Suravi-2011 - the State-level annual festival for school-goers from Saturday. Taking a stand against the gap between children from all walks of life, rural and urban, disabled and mainstream, around 1,500 children from across the country have gathered in the capital to say ‘United We Stand, Divided We Fall’. The young ambassadors are here to participate in the six-day-long Anjali Festival, one of the country’s biggest extravaganzas for kids, which kicked off on Wednesday evening.The fete, being hosted by Swabhiman, began with a colourful carnival where children dressed in fanciful costumes and accompanied by picturesque tableaus thronged the city’s streets. The theme this time is ‘Tales and Legends’. The festival has over the years grown in size and many new and interesting components added. At a time when it’s rather rare to find films appropriate for young minds hitting theatres here, a children’s film festival is being currently organised as a part of the fest to fill the void. Swabhiman and Mumbai-based Children’s Film Society are hosting the exclusive film festival for kids (though adults aren’t banned, children are given first preference), at the Rabindra Mandap till Wednesday. Every day at 10 am, movies like ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge’ , ‘Chhutkan ki Mahabharat’, ‘Karamati Coat’, ‘Labanya Priti’ and ‘Yeh Hai Chhakad Bakkad Bumbe Bo’ will be screened.Sruti Mohapatra, founder of Swabhiman, is of the opinion that the visual medium, being appealing, can be a powerful tool. Children’s films not only provide wholesome entertainment to kids, but can also play a role in “educating and shaping young minds.This apart, in order to spread the message of communal harmony, children will celebrate different festivals of all religions like Eid, Durga Puja, Holi and Christmas. “To display the creative aspects of differently-abled children, we have roped in cultural troupes comprising blind artistes from Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata who will also perform at Rabindra Mandap. Mahabharat, Ramayan and Sufi dance will be performed by disabled children on wheel chairs,” Sruti added. Besides, there are workshops on puppetry, pottery, terracotta, paper-making, magic, modern dance, creative writing, cartooning, first aid and theatre at the Adivasi Ground along with other activities like night sky gazing and snake shows.Like Anjali, Suravi-2011- organised by the School and Mass Education Department - has a heady mix of games, competitions and cultural events for students and teachers from across the State who have landed at the Unit IX Boys High School for the event. A series of competitions - painting, creative writing, song - and various cultural programmes will mark the occasion. The stalls put up for the festival have a range of colourful models on display to apprise visitors about teaching and learning methods, resource materials, multilingual education, computer-aided learning, management information system, school-support schemes and energy conservation.“We are excited about the event and the competitions sound very exciting. We come across so many different schools here. We wish there could be such events every year,” said student Supriya Biswal from Berhampur. The festival has been designed as a three-tier competitive event to spot talents at the grassroots level.The following two days has in store student’s activities such as quiz, debate, singing, creative mono acting, fancy dress and group dance. It will also feature mock parliament, children’s film festival and visit to heritage sites. The Mahotsav will conclude on November 14 - the Children’s Day.
Comments
0 comment