Shillong, Feb 22: Prerona Foundation, a socio-cultural organisation working for the uplift of education and students’ development, organised an event on Sunday to commemorate the International Mother Language Day, which normally falls on February 21 every year.
The observance of the day, which was deferred by a day due to the sudden demise of the Shillong MP, Dr Ricky A J Syngkon, was marked by presentations of songs and dances by the students of various backgrounds.
The event – held at the Zenith Jubelieth Club in Laban – began with vedic chanting and the lighting of ceremonial lamps by Vivekananda Cultural Centre office in-charge Dariphia Nora Lyngdoh; Prof Indrani Roy, Head of Department of English, Umshyrpi College; and Prof Maitreyee Deb, Head of Department of Hindi from the same college.
In her address, Lyngdoh highlighted the importance of one’s own mother language, while asserting that if one loses one’s own mother language, one would eventually lose one’s cultural identity.
Dr Roy alerted that in the pursuit of prioritising mother languages, “we shouldn’t forget that the importance of English language” as we go global. Prof Deb, in her address, expressed a little regret in witnessing that the ‘Raj Bhasha’ English, which was to be gradually relaced by Hindi as the national language, continued to remain the main language for India even after 78 years of the country’s independence.
In the cultural segment of the event, there were ‘Swadesh Mantra and Sanskrit songs’ followed by Jaintia, Garo and Bengali dances; presentation of an Assamese song and Bengali recitation by Subhashish Guha.
The welcome address was given by Prerona Foundation’s senior member Sudipa Chakravarty, while Ajay Ghosh from Zenith Jubelieth Club spoke on behalf of his club. The members of Prerona Foundation and Zenith Jubelieth paid tribute to Dr Syngkon, before Mitali Deb proposed a vote of thanks.
Prerona Foundation members also met with a big group of students ahead of the day’s event.
