The Indiana chapter of International Hindi Association (IHA) under the leadership of Dr. Rakesh Kumar organized its 21st biennial Convention in Indiana on 28-29 July 2023 in Carmel, Indiana, USA, in collaboration with the Consulate General of India.
Dr. Kumar was ably supported by the fellow office bearers – Vidya Singh, Vice President and Dr. Kumar Abhinava, Secretary, and members of the organization committee. Several volunteers, mainly youth, also helped in the organization and hosting of the event. The convention, over 2-days, had a great program that was full of interest, education, and entertainment for attendees of all ages. The theme of the convention was “Hindi Education for the Next Generation”, and it involved several youths in many activities including introduction of presenters, dignitaries, and Kavis (poets).
The Convention was attended by Consul General Somnath Ghosh as the Chief Guest and Mr. Diego Morales, Indiana Secretary of State as the guest of honor. More than 350 people attended the convention. Five Hindi professors from India, seven professors from US universities, and about 40 Hindi activists and distinguished guests from different parts of the United States participated in the Convention.
The Consul General expressed his gratitude to participants who came to attend the Convention from India and different parts of the United States. He briefed the audience about the policy of the Government of India to promote all Indian languages and steps taken in this regard, gave ideas to Indian diaspora for making arrangement for study of Hindi and other Indian languages in local schools and universities; development of apps to learn Hindi, etc. A new dimension for this convention was that middle and high school students were prepared as emcees for different sessions. The participants also included students from different US states.
Besides sessions on different topics related to the promotion of the Hindi language and Hindi studies on 28 July, the convention featured a Kavi Sammelan on 29 July. Among others, it was attended by an ICCR-sponsored poet of distinction and national repute, Col. (Retd) V.P. Singh, who served as a doctor in the Indian Army for 30-years. The other poets who came from India to attend the Kavi Sammelan were: Dr. Sarita Sharma, former Advisor to the Ministry of Culture; Mr. Sudeep Bhola, and Mr. Gaurav Sharma. In addition, two artists who had travelled all the way from India to be part of this convention, Ms. Mamta Ahar andDr.Anuradha Dubey,had mesmerizing Hindi drama and aKathak dance performances respectively.
This convention consisted of presentations from leading Hindi language academics and language learning enablers from the US, India, Mexico and Pakistan. It began with the most prominent professor of Hindi in the USA – Dr. Mithilesh Mishra. The title of his lecture was “Issues in Maintenance of Hindi in the American Diaspora. Dr. Mishra highlighted the pleasing fact that Universities in 23 states are offering Hindi as an elective course. But he also encouraged us to do all we can to bring it to the remaining states.
He also informed us about the scholarships / grants available for taking up Hindi in universities. Other presented topics include insights into Parents and Children’s interactions in speaking Hindi or the mother tongue (by Dr. Ekhteyar Ali); the role of grandparents in making it interesting for the grandchildren to learn about India’s rich cultural heritage through their telling of stories (by Dr. Rashmi Sharma); the rich learning of mother tongue from parents and grandparents(by Dr. Faiza Saleem); online tools available for learning Hindi (by Ajay Chadda); Introducing Hindi language teaching in Midwest American schools – Challenges, opportunities and possibilities (by Rakesh Mehrotra); Challenges in continuing with standard Hindi across contexts (by Dr. Anjana Sengar); Hindi, family and friends in personality development of Indian youth (by Dr. Usha Kiran); the nature of language teaching in schools (by Bharti Mishra) and finally, a panel discussion was chaired by Dr. and Mrs. Mahesh Goel and Dr. and Mrs. Bajpai, which summarized the main points from all presentations and asked us to pledge to keep working on promoting Hindi.
Ranjit Singh
Thank You For Your Vote!
Sorry You have Already Voted!
