Kashmir Kaur
Guests attending the 22nd Annual function of the Wellington Hindi School were pleasantly surprised by the vivacious performance of its students.
Among them was India’s High Commissioner Ravi Thapar.
“The performances were a great fusion of Indian literature, Bollywood, and classroom learning of the students,” he said, speaking at the event held on December 13, 2014.
He commended School Coordinator Sunita Narayan for her outstanding role in being a strong pillar providing over 22 years of leadership support to the institution’s three branches in the Wellington region.
Mr Thapar also applauded the efforts that the teachers and parents were making to ensure that their next generation was well equipped with their arterial language, a natural asset some parents choose to lose.
Versatile Presenters
The Programme highlighted an enthralling Bollywood dance, Hindi poem recital, Hindi story reading, plays depicting morality, an interactive quiz, a regional fashion parade and seven-year old Arnav Singh summarising India’s great epic, ‘Mahabharata.’
This was followed by the play ‘Arjuna Ki Ekagrata,’ which drew wide applause. This play illustrated a scene from Mahabharata in which Arjuna demonstrated the art of focus.
Multilingual benefits
Ambresh Kapoor (a parent) told Ms Narayan during an impromptu interview that his three children were becoming multi-lingual, learning their two mother-tongues namely Mandarin and Hindi, while English is taught at their mainstream school.
“I see long-term advantages of early exposure to multilingualism,” he said.
Rahul Madaan, Chairperson of the School’s Board of Trustees (and a parent) emphasised the importance of parental commitment.
While every child present at the function received recognition and gift packs, a number of children received special awards in recognition of their excellent performance.
Award Winners
Among them were four-year-old Mrinal Dausoa (‘Youngest Reader Award),’ Likitha Ranganatha (‘Most Improved Student Award’ for Conversation, Reading and Writing) Eeshan Kapoor (‘Increase in Confidence Award’), Arnav Singh (‘All-Round Performance Award’ and ‘Overall Stage Confidence Award’) and Harmeet Ramela (‘Best Actor Award’).
Impressive growth
Established in 1992, Wellington Hindi School provides structured learning for children between 4 and 16 years of age. On demand, it also offers conversational Hindi classes for adults.
Run by parents and volunteers, growing interest has encouraged the School to expand to three locations in the Wellington region with classes held at different times to ensure greater participation.
Positive approach
The School focuses on engendering cultural awareness and positive self-identity among young Wellingtonians. Learners become comfortable in conversational Hindi and later attain proficiency to read and write.
This approach allows positive social and cultural network to develop amongst families from different backgrounds. It helps to integrate new migrant families with long-standing members of the Hindi-speaking community of Wellington, providing networks that assist with successful resettlement.
The students come from various language backgrounds.
Wellington Hindi School keeps in touch with other Hindi schools in New Zealand and international Hindi organisations to build our internal capability.
Kashmir Kaur is a parent, who works on Wellington High School Projects. An article by Ms Narayan on another subject appears in this Section.
