World Hindi Day celebrated in Berbice

Jan 09, 2012 News

The Guyana Hindi Prachar Sabha commemorated World Hindi Day on Sunday with a rich cultural programme of songs, dances, Hindi recitals and literature display at the University of Guyana Berbice Campus.
The External Affairs Ministry of India declares January 10 each year as World Hindi Day, but the event was commemorated on the Sunday before the day.

One of the Hindi groups reciting the Gita in Hindi and giving English translations

The auditorium of the Berbice Campus was packed with several persons who attended the event, including Pro-Chancellor of the UG, Dr Prem Misir, First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar, Dr Vivekanand Brijmohan, Magistrate Krishandat Persaud, Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, S.K. Mandel and his wife, Reiko Ramel.
According to organizer and chairperson of the event, Former First Lady, Ms Varshnie Singh, the team in Guyana felt Sunday would be a better day for the event.
“It’s a cultural programme, showcasing the talents of our youths with regards to Hindi as a spoken language, in singing, in dance, poetry and so forth. This is our way of celebrating Hindi as being live and important to us in Guyana,” she said.
The Guyana Hindi Prachar Sabha, a Non- Governmental Organization, which has been around since 1954, propagating the expansion of Hindi in Guyana, Misri Persaud, Dr Biplap Singh, and numerous groups on the West Berbice and Corentyne areas came together to make the event possible.
Singh made the call for the language to be incorporated into the school system and possibly being offered at the CXC levels.
“Hindi as a second language would be beneficial with regard to the Hindu religion and culture because with the language, it unlocks the keys to all our sacred texts and of course it is always useful to have a second language”, she posited.
There was also a distribution of certificates to those who “gave lifetime contributions to Hindi for the love of the language” during the programme.
Singh noted that Hindi is a multi-cultural language and not for Hindus only.

L to R: Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, SK Mandel, Ms Varshnie Singh, First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar and UG Pro- Chancellor Dr Prem Misir pose for a photo at World Hindi Day celebrations at UG Berbice.

“Our African brothers and sisters learnt Hindi as a cultural educational tool, also our Muslim brothers and sisters, so it’s for everybody. It’s not a difficult language to learn. Once you learn the alphabet, then the language follows.”
The Prachar will also be going from Mandir to Mandir and getting persons to start Hindi classes by donating free teaching materials. Alphabet charts, Hindi dictionaries and other books were donated by the High Commission to offset the programme.