Curtain on the 37 submissions for the Storytelling contest for youth will be lifted in the online Hindu Heritage Day event on May 21, 2022 at 4 PM.  Audience will get to see samples from all the submissions plus watch a few complete stories (each under 5 minutes).  In addition, few dance and music performances will be presented.  More …

The annual Hindu Heritage Day in the 3rd weekend of May has served as a showcase for cultural traditions with a wide audience of almost 2500 for over 2 decades.  It featured collection of stage performances, organizational booths, mela, shopping, food and fun activities such as kite flying, mehendi, face painting etc.  However, until large gatherings become more acceptable, we have to settle for a more muted online version. 

A new innovation of storytelling contest for youth was introduced in 2021.  It invited submissions of video presentations by youth up to age 18.  Each video was to be under 5 minutes.   Participants could pick from the whole gamut of topics such as stories, biographical incidents of great characters, teachings (such as Karma, Ahinsa, World One Family), practices (such as yoga, festivals), living in Dharma or any others related to Hindu Heritage.  This year's participants range in age from 3 to 17.  The topics they chose include Rantideva, Markandeya, Indradyumna, How Lord Vishnu performed Puja to persuade Ganesha, life of Adi Shankara, fasting and of course Ramayana and Mahabharata. 

It is important to remember that one way a living tradition turns into a lost civilization is when families (which are the smallest social units) fail to impart the essentials of their culture to the next generation.  Fortunately, many families in Boston area are proud Hindus and take active interest in teaching their young.  Equally fortunately, many institutions such as Temples, dance, music, language schools make their wonderful contribution in this effort.  Various Satsang, Bhajan groups and cultural performances along with philosophy talks add to the variety and richness of available options.

The audience will find the performances engaging and entertaining.  They will also get to see a brief video about the widely acclaimed DARSHANA exhibition about Hindu civilization and about a week long summer camp for families which will be held in August, 2022.  Please register at: https:/hhd2022.eventbrite.com to attend the free event.  For further information, please send an email to: bgarg@ieee.org.

|