India House marks International Mother Language Day in London
Poetry renditions in Bhojpuri, reflective shlokas in Sanskrit, musical notes of Himachal Pradesh and Bihu folk dance beats of Assam were among some of the highlights as India House in London marked International Mother Language Day. The United Nations (UN) recognised linguistic celebration, marked annually on February 21, is designed to highlight the role of multilingual education in promoting inclusion and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The High Commission of India gathering on Friday coincided with celebrations of the Foundation Days of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh, organised to showcase a vibrant diaspora representing all parts of India in the UK. “The greatest piece about what makes India incredible is its institutionalisation of diversity in its states,” said Vikram Doraiswami, the High Commissioner of India to the UK.
“When we celebrate all of that, including through our National Song ‘Vande Mataram’, we are celebrating India in its widest, most inclusive, most broad-based sense; and in every part of India, we have every bit of our diversity celebrated. “There is no part of India in which our traditions, our cultures, our religions, are not actually part of it, right down to the villages,” he said.
Among the speakers at the event were Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan UK director, Dr M N Nandakumara, who shared his thoughts in his mother tongue, Kannada, and also recited Sanskrit shlokas to highlight the importance of the younger generations staying connected with their roots and language. “There is no wealth in this world which can be equated with wisdom and bhasha is a path to that wisdom,” he said.
Supriya Deshpande, co-founder of the UK-based GaMaBhaNa social initiative, shared insights from her work offering free Marathi language classes and free Marathi library to preserve Maharashtrian culture and promote learning in the West. Community leaders, professionals and students dressed up in the traditional outfits representing their states joined in the musical performances.
