Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary was celebrated at Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra in the form of a youth convention.  

There were skits and music by children, speeches by youths and sit-and-draw competitions for all.  

Primary school students, who study at the school run by the DD Block institute, performed a medley of songs and dances called Swadesh Bidesh, teaching the audience the importance of respecting one’s culture. “I played the role of Swamiji in the medley,” said Satyam Mandal of Class VII. “I admire the monk as he spoke of a world beyond boundaries, religion and caste. In the morning, we were taken to the municipality’s celebration of Swamiji’s birth anniversary and there I got to deliver a speech sharing the same podium as the SDO,” the boy beamed. 

The institute runs several foreign language courses and students of Spanish Priyanka Modak and Sreetama Bhattacharya were in the chorus team singing Guantanamera, a patriotic song from Cuba. “The song describes heroism and is relevant to the day’s theme,” said Sreetama, while Priyanka, who is trained in Indian classical music, said the tune was beautiful and fairly easy to pick up. And their teacher Lopamudra Sarkar had worked hard with the students till they got their pronunciations right. 

Students, who learn spoken English at the centre, performed an audio drama on the life of Saradha Ma. Manjusree Jana, an elocutionist who played Saradha, said: “Ma loved one and all and did not believe in the caste system. But the fact that we’re having to perform this play today proves that these issues are still prevalent in the 21st century.” The group also sang an English translation of the Rabindasangeet Boro asha kore.

The sit-and-draw contest kept kids busy. Those up to the age of 12 had to draw a scenery while those aged between 12 and 16 had to draw Swamiji. Aurobindo Pradhan, of Class X, not only stood first in his category but also turned out to be the drawing tutor of several other contestants. “I study at a school in Lake Town and teach children art after school. I’m happy to have won today,” said the resident of BF Block, who said he had learnt to be fearless from anecdotes of Swamiji. 

“Every year, we celebrate this day to inspire today’s youth with Swamiji’s ideas,” said secretary of the centre, Chanchal De. “We are happy to get a good turnout.”

Day of devotion

Sai Sandhya, a cultural evening commemorating the 89th birth anniversary of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, was organised by Sree Sathya Sai Seva organisation and Sree Sathya Sai Trust at EZCC auditoriam, Salt Lake. The auditorium was filled with devotees. One of them, Suchi Kler, seated in the first row with husband Wing Commander Deejay Kler, had come from the US. 

Goutam Ghosh, convenor of the programme, showcased the different educational projects by Satya Sai from study circle and school to college and university through an audio-visual presentation. IIEP is an online educational programme where people can participate from all over the world. 

Kalyan Roy, the chairman of the organising committee, introduced the chief guest — Air Chief Marshal N.C. Suri, a former head of the Indian air force. Drawing upon the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba, he emphasised the growing need for inter-faith dialogues that could focus on the commonality in the quintessence of different faiths and promote religious harmony and tolerance among people of all religions. He made his point by drawing extensively from scriptures of different faiths and concluded his talk by reciting his daily prayer which draws upon the prayers from different faiths. 

Among people who attended the event were Thomas D’Souza, Archbishop of Calcutta, Imam Mohammad Shafique Kashemi, head of the Nakhoda Masjid, Swami Divyananda Maharaj of Bharat Sevashram Sangha and Sardar Tejinder Singh Madan of the Sikh Cultural Centre. The audience of 800 participants included several sitting and former judges of the Calcutta High Court, senior members of the defence services and professionals from different walks of life.

The highlight of the evening’s cultural programme was a dance offering titled “Krishna leela”, directed by Shukla Kolay, formerly associated with the Amala Shankar troupe. 

Bharati Kanjilal 

 

 

If you want to get a programme featured in this column, write in to The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta - 700001 or call in at 22600115 in the evening or e-mail to saltlake@abpmail.com