INDIAN CULTURAL CENTRE PARAMARIBO

CELEBRATIONS OF 62ND ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE OF INDIA

  As part of the celebrations of 62nd Anniversary of India's Independence, the Indian Cultural Centre, Embassy of India organised a week long programme of various cultural events to depict and promote Indian Arts and Culture among the Surinamese.  A press clipping on the programme is enclosed herewith.


10.08.2009   'HEALTH THROUGH YOGA'
The First programme on the occasion of the celebrations of 62nd anniversary of India's Independence was a seminar on 'Health Through Yoga'. The seminar was inaugurated by Mr. Stanley Sidoel, Director of Culture, Government of Suriname at the ICC Yoga Hall. On this occasion a presentation was made by Mrs. Jane Poeran Van Ommeren, board member of Art of Living, Suriname Chapter. In addition, Mr. Prahalad Singh Chahar, Yoga Teacher ICC also made a power point presentation including demonstrations of Asans by the ICC students on 'Health Through Yoga'. Around 100 people attended the seminar.


11.08.2009   PAINTING WORKSHOP - DEMONSTRATION ON T-SHIRTS
As part of Independence Day celebrations, around 70 school children from various schools of Suriname were invited to draw paintings of Indian flag, OHM, Diyas etc. on the t-shirts at the ICC, Paramaribo. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Ranjan Akloe, a local Surinamese painter.  The students painted very enthusiastically. On this occasion eminent painter, Mr. George Ramjiawansingh also addressed the students and appreciated the efforts of the Indian Cultural Centre in promoting the art amongst children.




11.08.2009   KAVI SAMMELAN
A Kavi Sammelan was held at the ICC premises as part of Independence Day celebrations wherein around 12 upcoming and established Hindi poets of Suriname recited self composed Hindi poems. The poems depicted various aspects of social & economic life of people in Suriname and were reprinted in the August issue of Embassy E-Newsletter. Around 50 people attended the programme.  A PowerPoint presentation on Freedom struggle of India was also given by the Hindi teacher, Mrs. Sandhya Sharma.



12.08.2009   EK SHAAM MOHAMMAD RAFI KE NAAM
An evening of Indian Music paying tributes to the eminent Bollywood singer Shri Mohammad Rafi was organized at the Indian Cultural Centre. The tributes were paid by singing some patriotic songs and other lively film songs sung by the singer. All songs were sung by the Vocal Music students of the ICC. Around 150 students attended the programme.




13.08.2009   'SAAZ KI AWAAZ'

An evening of Indian Instrumental Music was organised at the ICC on the occasion of the India's Independence Day. Various Indian Instruments like Tabla, Dholak, Harmonium, Violin etc., were played by the ICC students. Various tunes of Indian Films and private albums songs were played on this occasion. This was the first that the ICC had organised such a programme of Indian Instruments. Various musicians and music lovers attended the programme and appreciated the playing of various Indian instruments by the ICC students.





14.08.2009   DANCES OF SURINAME

A programme of various dances of Suriname namely African, Indonesian, Chinese and Indian Dances were presented at ICC. Various dance schools in Suriname were invited to present dances depicting the multi-ethnic culture of Suriname. A guest artist from USA, Mr. Kevin Locke presented an Amer-Indian Folk dance on the occasion.                                                                                               
Around 200 people attended the dance programme






15.08.2009   FLAG HOISTING CEREMONY AT THE EMBASSY

After the hoisting of the flag and reading the speech of the President by Ambassador KJS Sodhi, a short cultural programme was organised by the local Indian Community including the Embassy and ICC India-based staff and the ICC students and patriotic songs were rendered








15.08.2009   ESSAY WRITING COMPETITION OF TEACHING OF MAHATMA GANDHIJI

To make the Suriname students aware of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, an essay writing competition was organised on the topic of ' Teachings of Mahatma Gandhiji 'at the ICC. A number of school children participated in the competition. The competition was held in Hindi, Dutch and English Languages. The winners of the competition will be given prizes at a function to be organised on the 2nd of October 2009, i.e. the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.                                                                                                                         



15.08.2009   INDIAN MOVIE CLUB ' BORDER '

To mark the end of the 62nd Anniversary of the Independence of India, Bollywood movie 'Border ' was shown at a local Theatre in Paramaribo. Around 200 people watched the movie enthusiastically. On this occasion a short documentary of 20 minutes was shown regarding the life styles of Indian Saints in India which was produced by XP Division of the MEA, New Delhi.






19.08.2009   ODDISI DANCE PROGRAMME AT BARBADOS
On the request of the Embassy of India Paramaribo, the ICCR sponsored a five member Oddisi dance troupe led by Ms. Sangeeta Dash to Barbados. Barbados is one of the three countries accredited to our Mission. The group was sponsored on the occasion of the celebrations of India's Independence. The programme was well received and appreciated by the local public. The programme was coordinated by the Honorary Council General of India in Barbados.





7, 14, 21.08.2009   ENERGY BALANCING THROUGH MEDITATION

As part of its ongoing activities, weekly special yoga classes on meditation were conducted at ICC Yoga Hall by Mr. Prahalad Singh Chahar, Yoga Teacher, ICC. This month a special focus was made on the energy balancing through it various stages during meditation In these classes, topics such as re-arranging the mind, self suggestions to the mind, focusing the mind and sciences of soul were taught. These special classes were attended by nearly 60 participants.




3, 17, 24, 31.08.2009   YOGA TEACHERS TRAINING
Weekly Yoga Teachers Training course was conducted by Mr. Prahalad Singh Chahar, yoga teacher, ICC, to the senior yoga students of ICC who run their own institutes and teach yoga to local students. In the classes, Vivakkhyati and Prajana were taught to the participants with introduction of Hatha yoga asanas like Pavanmuktasana, Uttanpadasana, Ardha Halasana, Niralamvasana etc. Pranayama practice was also introduced to the participants.



19-08-2009   TASTE OF UTTAR PRADESH FLAVOUR

A talk on various Uttar Pradesh dishes was given by Mrs. Bhawna Saxena, Attaché (Hindi), Embassy of India. A demonstration was also given for one of the dishes named 'Pumpkin Pudding' during the occasion. Around fifty ladies attended the talk-cum-demonstrations






27.08.2009   MUSIC WORKSHOP ON ' THUMRI '

A Vocal Music workshop on Rag Thumri was conducted by the Vocal Music Teacher, Mrs. Madhumita Bose, ICC. Thumri is also sung by the traditional Baithak Gana Singers of Suriname. The workshop was conducted in association with Shri Narinder Mokhamsing, a local musicologist who also works in the Department of Culture, Government of Suriname. Some local Baithak Gana singers sang Thumri as sung in Suriname while the ICC students and the music and tabla  teacher performed in the Indian style. Some references were also made regarding the influence the Thumri style as sang in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Around 70 people including local baithak gana singers and musicians attended the workshop



28.08.2009   SEMINAR ON " YOGA PRACTISES " IN SURINAME

Yoga is very popular in Suriname and there are some traditional schools which are teaching yoga for more than 40 years in Suriname. To enable the Yoga lovers of Suriname to have glimpses on the various forms of yoga practises in Suriname, the Indian Cultural Centre in collaboration with the local NGO Stichting Jagran Mandal Suriname organized a seminar of various practises of yoga in Suriname.  Various yoga schools demonstrated different forms of yoga as
practised by them. Around 250 people attended the seminar which was well appreciated in Media. The workshop was coordinated by Shri Prahalad Singh Chahar, Yoga Teacher, ICC who presented a PowerPoint presentation on Pranayama during the seminar.