Anjali International Festival celebrated in the cheerful aura of Christmas

Bhubaneswar(Kalinga Voice) : In the cheerful aura of Christmas, Anjali International Festival celebrated its third day . The day was full of fun with innovative, educational, and entertaining programmes.

The festival began with a talk about Air India and Aviation Industry by Usha Padhee, IAS, Joint secretary Govt. of India and Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. Hundreds of children joined the talk from India and abroad via the zoom app. With her mesmerizing and inspiring words, she drove the children into the sky. Her informative words did not just add knowledge but also made the children dream about flying through the clouds.  She patiently answered the curious questions of the children on various careers in the aviation industry.

Students from Special schools, Govt. schools, NGOs, Private schools all over India participated in the Virtual Classical Dance Competition. From the 175 registrations, only 20 had been shortlisted by jury members for a live performance and competition today in front of the jury.The dais had two renowned Odissi dancers and global artist Sonali Mishra and Pankaj Kumar Pradhan as the Jury members who were connected virtually. From the junior group, Ayesha Priyadarshini(L R DAV Public School, Cuttack), Sarah Sanvi Pattnaik,(Mother Public School, Bhubaneswar) and AalpanaPattnaik(DAV Public School, Bhubaneswar) were awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions, respectively. Jai Nandini Pati (DAV Public School, Cuttack) and Shreenika Panda(Kendriya Vidyalaya No-2, Bhubaneswar) won the consolation prizes.

Aditi Harichnadan,(Mother’s Public School, Bhubaneswar) Priyashri Bal (Stewart School, Bhubaneswar) and SrustiPratyusha (DAV Public School, Cuttack) were awarded 1st ,2nd, and 3rd prizes in the senior group. The consolation prizes were won by SoyanshiPani (DAV Public School, Cuttack) and Saswati Mishra (TATA DAV Public School, Joda).

This year Anjali had Usha Venkatraman from Mumbai who presented the beautiful Storytelling with Puppetry Live Demonstration cum Workshop virtually. She is a renowned artist who has mastered the art of capturing her audience’s attention with her dramatic voiceovers, melodious tunes, life-like puppets and witty stories. This was a special attraction for the children, and her story with puppetry sparked young imaginations of Anjali. She made us aware of the field and tricks of storytelling art, taught the children to make puppets and also answered the questions beautifully.

The virtual performance of a patriotic song by Madhu Bhai, Convener, NYP, along with 1000 children and youth, was fascinating. Madhusudan Das, popularly known as “Madhu Bhai” the State Convener of National Youth Project, a social activist, motivational speaker and a youth trainer, has been inspiring million over three decades. In the virtual programme, he motivated and inspired children through his encouraging words, songs and group singing.

The day ended with a very unique programme, “Dada Dadi Ki Kahani,” a storytelling event, conducted by the “Silver Age” foundation of Bhubaneswar to revive the old tradition of story narration by the grandparents to the kids. The foundation strives to uplift the quality of life of the elders without a profit motive. Grandmothers Swarna Chandra, Swati Rath and Jyoti Patnaik narrated beautiful stories which inculcated the values in the children.