Students perform the “Unity in diversity” dance Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 30: Students of Delhi Public School, Kalinga, have set up a venture to reach out to the underprivileged sections of society through “Good Samaritan Carnival - 2011”.

The carnival, which was held yesterday evening on the school premises, was aimed at establishing a Good Samaritan Foundation under DPS Kalinga’s Vidya Jyoti Trust for the needy and the underprivileged through private donations. Nearly 2,000 students from nursery to Class XII put up a vibrant assortment of cultural programmes.

Hundreds of parents and guests, including chief minister Naveen Patnaik and higher education minister Debi Prasad Mishra, attended the programme.

After the soulful rendition of a song Chhoti Chhoti Dishaaon Se by senior students on Indian and western musical instruments, tiny tots in bright costumes stole the show with an amusing “fruit salad drill”.

Other students highlighted the importance of a world without borders by performing various dances from around the globe.

Starting from their performance on buoyant Brazilian pageantry, Orissa tribal dance and Hawaiian hula dance to the lively samba and Japanese fan dance, the students won rounds of thunderous applause from the crowd.

Participants spread awareness on emerging issues through a presentation on “Unity in Diversity” and “Leave me a piece of this paradise” on global warming and climate change. The programme ended on a sombre note with young yogis exhibiting a wide range of aasans.

Several food stalls and kiosks displaying the handiwork of the students were also set up. Earlier, Naveen Patnaik emphasised on the need spread education regarding social and moral responsibilities of children.

“Human resource development is one of the focus areas today and quality education is the key to that. Oriya boys and girls are immensely talented, disciplined and hardworking. My government is committed to creating better educational avenues to tap their potentialities,” said Patnaik.

The Good Samaritan Foundation has been conceptualised by school trustee, Mala Mishra, in order “to inculcate a sense of altruism and empathy” in the students. “Born in an era of instant noodles, instant coffee and instant friendship (social networking sites), children need to develop a benevolent spirit. We want to catch them young so that a later age they turn out to be better citizens of this world,” she said.