Heritage Education and Communication Service - 2015
Heritage and Education Communication Service (HECS), INTACH Delhi in collaboration with the INTACH Warangal Chapter organized a one-day college volunteer training workshop on the 22nd of December for over 140 students from seven different colleges of the city of Warangal. The workshop focused on engaging students from important heritage areas of the city to sensitize the students and make them even more responsible towards heritage. Professor Amara Jyothi, the vice- principal of the New Science P.G. College addressed the students explaining to them the need to protect and nurture our heritage. Sri J. Sridhar Rao, the director of New Science Degree College and also closely working with INTACH Warangal chapter, talked to the students about INTACH and the role of the institution in spearheading conservation activities throughout the country. He made the students aware of the built heritage of Warangal and highlighted the role of the Kakatiya dynasty rulers who have contributed immensely to the history and heritage of Warangal.
This was followed by an interactive session conducted by Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director, HECS, INTACH Delhi , who gave presentations on the Heritage of India and what makes it rich and unique, and on HECS, its objectives and activities. The thrust of the session was geared towards making heritage education appealing to the students. The session also included a quiz in which the students were asked questions on the history of Telangana. She encouraged the students to be aware of their heritage and take forward steps in protecting and maintaining it.
The students were also taken for a heritage walk to the famed Thousand Pillar temple, a part of which is being restored here the convener of INTACH Warangal chapter Prof. Panduranga Rao, explained to the students the techniques being used to restore the temple, which is being restored using the technology, the Kakatiya rulers used thousands of years ago. Along with him the convener of the Andhra Pradesh state chapter, Shri M Gopala Krishna,Convenor INTACH Andhra and Telangana State Chapters also interacted with the students explaining to them the importance of preserving heritage and the importance of hard work that goes in the process. The workshop concluded with the distribution of certificates to the students in the temple complex.
Thiruvananthapuram –
the first zonal final of the INTACH India Heritage Quiz 2015 was held at Trivandrum Tennis Club, Kowdiar, Kerala on 29th July, 2015. 166 students from 20 schools participated in the written round before the zonal finals. Bhavan's Vidyamandir, Eroor won the zonal finals. INTACH Trivandrum Convenor, Mr. Shaji Krishnan was present at the venue. Kunal Savarkar was the quiz master.
Bangalore -
On 30th July, 2015, the zonal finals of the INTACH quiz were held at Innisfree House School, Bangalore. It was won by Sharada Vidyalaya, Mangalore. The quiz master was Mr. Kunal Savarkar. The event was well covered by the media.
Hyderabad –
The Zonal finals of Andhra Pradesh-Telengana was conducted at Hyderabd on 31st July, 2015. The venue for the finals was Salar Jung Museum. Vishakapatnam city winners, Navy Children School won this round who would be travelling to Delhi for the semi finals. The quiz was conducted by Mr. Kunal Savarkar.
Chennai –
The Chennai round of the 16 zonal finals was conducted at the renowned Asian College of Journalism on August 1st, 2015. St. Patrick's Higher Secondary School from Pondicherry was adjudged as the winner. Ms. Sujata Shankar, INTACH Chennai Convenor was present for the quiz. The quiz was conducted by Mr. Kunal Savarkar.
Mumbai -
At Dr.Bhau Daji Lad Museum, the zonal finals at Mumbai was organized on August 3rd, 2015. SPM English School, Pune won the Maharasthra zonal finals. The venue was organized by INTACH Mumbai chapter. Mr. Kunal Savarkar conducted the quiz.
Ahmedabad –
The finals for the Gujarat-Daman & Diu round were held on 04-August 2015 at Shreyas Foundation School. 15 schools participated in the written round before the zonal finals to fill up the Ahmedabad slot for the finals. Bright School, Vadodara were the winners of the finals. Kunal Savarkar was the quizmaster for both the quizzes.
Jaipur -
Rajasthan had its zonal final for the INTACH INDIA HERITAGE QUIZ on 11-Aug, 2015 at Maharja Sawai Mansingh Vidyalaya. 28 schools participated in the Jaipur city round. Mayoor School, from Ajmer emerged as the winners from this zonal final. Kunal Savarkar from Xpressminds conducted the quiz.
Bhubaneswar –
On 11th August 2015, the INTACH INDIA HERITAGE QUIZ 2015 was organized at DAV School, CS Pur. 152 students from 17 schools participated in the Bhubaneshwar city round. DPS Kalinga, from Cuttack were the winners from the zonal held immediately after the city round and will represent Odisha in the Semi finals to be held in New Delhi. Mr. Raktim Kumar Nag conducted both the quizzes.
Ranchi –
The zonal finals for Jharkhand and Bihar was held on 13th August 2015. Bridgeford School Ranchi was chosen as the venue. 13 schools participated in the city round prior to the finals. DPS Bokaro won the finals. The quiz was conducted by Mr. Raktim Kumar Nag.
Varanasi –
The zonal finals for Eastern Uttar Pradesh were held on 19th August, 2015 at Sunbeam School, Lahartara in Varanasi. 224 students from 22 schools participated in the written round. Sunbeam Bhagwanpur emerged victorious from the zonal final conducted by renowned quizmaster Mr. Kunal Savarkar.
Chandigarh -
The Chandigarh round of India’s largest ever quiz contest – the INTACH India Heritage Quiz 2015, now in its 2nd edition was organized by INTACH and Xpress Minds Edutainment on 21st August 2015 at the Strawberry Field High School. More than 160 students from 17 schools participated in the Chandigarh round . An on-stage zonal final was also organized which had teams from Kangra, Mandi, Jammu, Amritsar, Ambala, Ludhiana and Srinagar. The team from Springdales, Amritsar emerged as the zonal champions and will represent Punjab, J&K, Himachal and Haryana in the national final.
Bhopal -
Teams from Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh fought out the zonal finals of the central region on 24th August, 2015 at Campion School, Bhopal. KPS, Raipur were the winners from this zone and will take part in the semi finals in Delhi in November against the other qualifiers from the zonal finals. Mr. Raktim Kumar Nag conducted the quiz.
New Delhi –
The capital saw 400 students from various schools in Delhi to compete in the Zonal finals for Delhi and Haryana on 31st August, 2015.
Two zonal finals were held on the same day at India Internatinal Centre . Western UP- Uttarakhand finals which was won by Bal Bharati Brij Vihar, Ghaziabad and; New Delhi and Haryana finals which was won by the qualifiers from the Delhi city round (Convent of Jesus and Mary). Quizmaster Kunal Savarkar conducted all the three quizzes.
Guwahati –
This year many cities from the north eastern states participated in the INTACH INDIA HERITAGE QUIZ. On 07th September, 2015 the Zonal finals was organized at Asom Paryatan Bhawan, Guwahata. Little Flowers' School from Nalbari came on top will meet teams from the other parts of the country to compete to be the best team. Mr. Kunal Savarkar conducted the quiz.
Kolkata -
West Bengal and Andaman&Nicobar Islands had their zonal finals on the 10th of September at Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Kolkata. 19 schools participated in the written round of Kolkata. DPS Ruby Park, Kolkata won the finals. Mr. Raktim Kumar Nag conducted the quizzes.
The finals of the INTACH INDIA HERITAGE QUIZ 2015 were held on 26th November, 2015 at the Doordarshan studios. The 16 qualifying teams from the different corners of the country fought out for semi finals and one national final. All the winning teams visited INTACH on 25th November where they were felicitated by the Member Secretary Dr. CT Misra and the Chariman, Maj Gen (retd) L K Gupta. The winners were also taken for a short heritage walk of the Lodhi Gardens.
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Thrissur Krishna Public School, Dunda, from Raipur, Sunbeam School, Bhagwanpur, Varanasi and Delhi Public School, Bokaro Steel City contested in the first semi final. Sunbeam School, Bhagwanpur were the winners.
In the second semi Final, Bright Day School, Vadodra, St. Agnes School, Kharagpur, Bal Bharti Public School, Brij Vihar, Ghaziabad and Navy Children's School Vizag contested in a low scoring quiz which saw Bal Bharti emerge as the winners.
The third semi final was between Little Flower School, Nalbari, Assam, St. Patrick's School, Pondicherry, Convent Of Jesus & Mary, New Delhi and SPM English School Pune. SPM Pune were the winners.
The last semi Final was between DPS Kalinga, Sring Dale Senior School, Amritsar, Sharada Vidyalaya, Mangalore and Mayoor School, Ajmer. The last team to join the finalists were Sharada Vidyalaya from Mangalore.
The participating schools for the National Final were SPM English School, Bal Bharti Public School, Sunbeam School and Sharada Vidyalaya. The National Winners of INTACH INDIA HERITAGE QUIZ 2015 were Sunbeam School from Varanasi.
A two day teacher training workshop was organized at Jamnagar on the 3rd and 4th December 2015. The first day of the workshop was organized at Air Force School, Jamnagar. 60 teachers from 30 schools participated for the workshop.. Retd. Air Commodore Surendra Tyagi made all necessary arrangements for the workshop and gave a very insightful speech on the work that INTACH does. He also showed old and present photographs of buildings of Jamnagar. Ms. Elevyn Tudu, Education Officer of Air Force station Jamnagar was Guest of Honour.
Ms. Purnima Datt, PD, Heritage Education and Communication Service took the first session by asking teachers to introduce themselves and speak about places in Jamnagar that are close to their hearts. She then gave the first presentation on India – its diversity and the types of heritage that bond the country together. She explained the geographical diversity and the different customs and traditions followed by different ethnicities. She spoke on natural, built, material and living heritage of the country. This was followed by a tea break.
During the tea break, the participants were taken for a memorable experience to the air force base of Jamnagar to watch the daily flying exercise of the Indian Air Force.
The second session was about Heritage Education and what the HECs division does which was followed by the traditional Gujarati lunch
The next session saw active participation by the teachers were made to play a game called ‘romantic pairs’ where they were given flash cards and had to find the correct partners. The remainder of the day’s session was spent in showing a presentation on the youngintach website and in explaining the teacher training kits. Before the end of the day, the teachers were divided into four groups and told to prepare a presentation the four different types of heritage for the next day.
The second day started with a heritage walk to the old Parsi agiary (fire temple), the Borrah Mosque, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the Darbargarh. After the one hour tour, the participants assembled in a hall outside the agiary where Ms. Datt spoke about the different publications of HECS and explained to them in detail about the Hands on Heritage guide book for teachers which has activities related to all four fields of heritage. The teachers were given an hour to prepare for their presentations and they made wonderful demonstrations on their given topics. The workshop ended with a distribution of certificates and resource material to the teachers.
The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage in collaboration with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) organized a cleanup drive on 24th November, 2015 at Hauz Khas Monument Complex. It is an initiative taken by the Heritage Education and Communication Service (HECS) of INTACH celebrating the World Heritage Week (19th -24th November 2015). As a part of the national programme, Clean Monument Campaign is being organized all over the country by various regional chapters of INTACH. During this campaign, chosen students would be monitoring the upkeep of their adopted monument for two months and prepare a report on the same.
Students from various schools across the city participated in the Cleanup drive which was followed by a poster making competition. Mr. T.R. Sharma, Regional Director, North Zone, ASI, was the Chief Guest. He gave a very inspiring speech to the students about India’s Heritage and the urgent need to protect and preserve it. He said “heritage should be very close to our hearts and we must preserve it. He also said that Max Mueller, the German philosopher described India as a repository of rich culture with its monuments as an epitome of architectural brilliance and deft craftsmanship”. Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director (HECS) along with ASI officials took the heritage pledge with the participating students and teachers. Students were divided into small groups and were provided with gloves, and garbage bags. They picked up waste papers, empty plastic bottles and collected in the garbage bins. The students felt pride in looking after their monument and also pledged that they will personally keep a vigil on their local monuments so that people would be varying of littering in such heritage buildings. Later the programme ended with distribution of certificates and refreshments.
Heritage Education and Communication Service (HECS), INTACH in collaboration with the INTACH Thanjavur Chapter organized a two-day teacher-training workshop from 17th-18th November 2015 for 92 teachers from 68 schools at Collectorate Museum, Thanjavur. Mr. Muthukumar, Secretary INTACH Thanjavur Chapter welcomed all the participating schools. In his welcome address, he gave a brief introduction on the history of Thanjavur and the rich heritage in terms of its living Chola temples that have been declared as a world heritage site by the UNESCO. Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director, HECS, INTACH gave presentations on the Heritage of India and what makes it rich and unique, and on HECS, its objectives and Heritage Education programmes. She encouraged the teachers to form heritage clubs in their respective schools with the training they have got in developing innovative teaching modules in heritage education, as it will help the students in learning about their past and rich heritage through heritage club activities and help sustain the heritage movement among the youth of the nation. Heritage walk was conducted at the Big temple or the Brihadeeswarar Temple, which is declared a world heritage site by UNESCO for its sheer architectural brilliance shown during the Chola rule. Mr Muthukumar Secretary INTACH Thanjavur Chapter and Mr Selvarajan,Senior Member INTACH Thanjavur Chapter conducted a very detailed and inspiring walk in the beautiful Big temple.The workshop concluded with felicitations and distribution of certificates and resource materials to the participating schools.
Heritage and Education Communication Service (HECS), INTACH Delhi in collaboration with the INTACH Khandwa Chapter organized a two-day teacher training workshop from 26th -27th October 2015 for 28 teachers from 14 schools at Podar International School, Khandwa. Ms. Madhuri Sharma, Convenor INTACH Khandwa Chapter welcomed all the participants. Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director, HECS, INTACH Delhi gave presentations on the Heritage of India and what makes it rich and unique, and on HECS, its objectives and Heritage Education programmes. She stressed on utilizing the resources provided to the teachers during the workshop to the maximum as they are very much responsible in shaping the child’s imagination and sensitivity towards her/his heritage and culture as majority of the waking hours they spend with the teacher. She encouraged the teachers to form heritage clubs in their respective schools with the training they have got in developing innovative teaching modules in heritage education as it will help the students in learning about their past and rich heritage through heritage club activities. The field trip was organized at Nagchun Museum and Padma Kund in Khandwa. The museum had a collection of rare stone sculptures dating back to 7th-16th century AD. The workshop ended with the distribution of certificates and resource material to the participating schools. Ms Madhuri Sharma and Ms. Datt thanked everyone for attending the workshop and wished them good luck for the formation of their heritage clubs.
A two-day heritage volunteer training workshop on Heritage Awareness was held at INTACH, Delhi from 8th-9th October 2015. 69 students from 8 colleges with 4 teacher representatives participated in the workshop. Students and teachers mainly from History Department of various colleges (Daulat Ram College, Kalindi College, Kamala Nehru College, Lady Sri Ram College for Women, Gargi College, Jesus and Mary College, Sri Venkateswara and St. Stephen’s College) giving the workshop a multidisciplinary approach and integrating heritage awareness with its conservation aspect. The methodology adopted was a practical and interactive one for the participants- slide shows by resource persons, talks, discussions, and group activities. Students were made familiar to INTACH’s mandate of preserving the built and cultural heritage of India. A heritage walk to Safdurjung’s Tomb was also organized as part of the heritage volunteer programme. Sessions by Dr. AGK Menon, Dr. Narayani Gupta and Dr. Swapna Liddle made the students familiar with Delhi’s unique and composite culture and encouraged the students to take heritage as a separate discipline and independent of the History as subject taught in classrooms. They emphasized heritage is beyond that and in order to become a heritage volunteer they would need to address that what heritage means to them. Other sessions included hands-on activities, group discussions, heritage quiz, and presentations by respective INTACH divisions. The workshop concluded with words of encouragement from Chairman, Maj. Gen (retd.) L.K. Gupta, and INTACH Member Secretary, Dr. C.T. Mishra and distribution of certificates and INTACH publications.
The Heritage Education and Communication Service(HECS) of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage(INTACH))along with Xpressminds India organized the largest ever School Quiz in India- The INTACH INDIA QUIZ 2014- which was held across India in 105 cities; covering all States and Union Territories and was a major success. This year, again on the same guidelines the INTACH INDIA HERITAGE QUIZ 2015 is being organized. The outreach is expected to be more this year owing to last year’s immense success.
This event is being organized jointly by INTACH and Xpress Minds Edutainment, led by Kunal Savarkar, an architect and National Level Quizmaster who has conducted several quizzes for INTACH in the past few years.
To increase knowledge of India – the land, its people, their history and culture – among the school children of India, this interesting quiz competition aims to test students across India on their knowledge of Indian Culture and Heritage and encourage them to learn and know more about the country. The Event is the largest ever Quiz Competition to be held in India. The City rounds were conducted beginning June 30th in over 100 cities consisting of a preliminary written round. The Zonal Winners will travel to New Delhi for the National Rounds which will be televised on Doordarshan. The 16 Zonal Winners will meet in the National Rounds which will comprise of 4 semi-finals that will be followed by the national grand finale which is scheduled to be held in the month of November. More than 75 INTACH chapters from all across the country lent in their support in making this quiz a success.
Amritsar - The city Round of the heritage quiz was conducted at Alpine Public School, Majitha Road Amritsar on 6th August, 2015. Spring Dale Senior School, Fatehgarh Churian Road, Amritsar won in the city Round.
Aurangabad - INTACH Aurangabad Chapter organized Written Quiz Competition in collaboration with Xpress Minds Edutainment for the school students from classes VIII to X on 15th July 2015 at Bhanudas Chavan Hall, the Institution of Engineers, Osmanpura, Aurangabad. Around 13 schools of Aurangabad participated in written quiz competition and Dr. Y.S. Khedkar School was declared winners. Chandrapur - 100 students (50 teams) were participated in the INTACH India Heritage Quiz competition from seven schools of the city. Hindi City High School, Chhotubhai Patel High School, City Kanya Vidyalaya, F.E.S. Girls High School, City Higher Secondary School, Lokmanya Tilak Kanya Vidyalaya and City Madhyamik Vidyalaya participated.
Coimbatore - INTACH, Coimbatore chapter conducted the Heritage Quiz 2015 at Vivekalaya Matriculation School, Trichy Road, Coimbatore on 9th July 2015 at 10:00 AM. 102 teams (204 students) from various schools of Coimbatore eagerly participated in the quiz. The team from Vidhya Niketan Public School won the written round.
Gwalior - INTACH Gwalior chapter conducted the city round of INTACH India Heritage Quiz at Scindia Kanya Vidayalaya on 30th July 2015. 272 students participated in the Quiz. Oxford Public School, Gwalior Glory High School, Army Public School, Greenwood Pubic School, Pragati Vidya Peeth, Geetanjali Public School, Radiant School, Rishi Galav School, Greenwood School DD Nagar, Radiant Sr. Sec. School, Bhartiyam Vidya Niketan, Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya , Sanskar Public School, IATS Public School participated in the quiz. Oxford Public School won the city round .
Jamnagar – The Intach India Heritage Quiz 2015 was held on 18th July 2015 at Mirza Parsi Agiari, Jamnagar2.30pm. Commodore S S Tyagi VM (Retd.) gave a brief talk to all the participants regarding the history of Parsi Agiari which is a Heritage site. 215 students were present from 6 schools in Jamnagar. Shree Satya Sai Vidyalaya won.
Kangra - Intach Kangra Chapter held the Heritage Quiz 2015 on the 11th August. 66 students from various schools participated in the competition. Gurukul Senior Secondary School Dharamshala won the written round.
Lucknow – The Intach India Heritage Quiz was organized on 11th August, 2015 at Institute of Management and Research Technology. La-Martiniere Girls College, Colvin Taluqdars college, Study Hall College, St. Francis College, St. Agnes Loreto school, St. Mary's School, City Montessori School, Spring Dale school, Seth M.R.Jaipuria school, Modern Academy and Hoerner College participated. The students of City Montessori School, Kanpur road won. An half an hour presentation on heritage was given by, Convenor, Ms.Vipul B Varshney titled ’Lucknow-Then,Now and Tomorrow” which gave the insight to students the history and ancient heritage of Lucknow since the inception of Lakshmanpuri to modern day Lucknow with its intangible heritage of art, cuisine,costumes and music with dance. The event was covered widely by media and their cooperation supported the event to great extent.
Mandi - Despite torrential rains and landslides, the scheduled INTACH INDIA HERITAGE QUIZ 2015 was organized by Mandi Chapter at Saraswati Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Mahajan Bazar. 100 students from 11 schools participated in the Quiz. The teams from DAV Centenary Senior Secondary School Jawahar Nagar, Mandi were declared winners of the written round. Dr. R.K.Rajoo-a renowned Soil Scientist and Academician gave away certificates of participation to all students.
Mayurbhanj - The INTACH INDIA HERITAGE QUIZ , 2015 was conducted on 2nd August 2015 at 10 a.m. in Maharshi Public School , Baripada, Mayurbhanj, Odisha. One hundred & fifty students of seventy five Teams appeared. St.Xaviers High School, Baripada, Mayurbhanj won the round and proceeded for the zonal final at Bhubaneshwar.
Noida / Greater Noida - The Heritage Quiz organized by INTACH in association with Xpress Minds Edutainment Pvt. Ltd was held as scheduled in Aug 2015. Due to tremendous response the quiz was conducted in two groups, one for Greater Noida schools on 6th August 2015 and the second for Noida schools on 19th Aug 2015. Vishwa Bharti School from Noida and Somerville School from Gr. Noida won their respective rounds. The participants were appropriately addressed as heritage warriors, and were extremely enthusiastic about the quiz.
Patna - The Intach India Heritage Quiz was held at St. Xaviers School, West Gandhi Maidan, Patna on the 5th August 2015. The programme commenced with the welcome address by Fr. Jacob, Principal of St. Xaviers High School, followed by an address by Sri J.K. Lall, Convener, INTACH, Patna Chapter in which the students were briefed about INTACH and its missions. Quiz Master, Sri Deep Thakkar of Express Minds Edutainment (P) Ltd. conducted the quiz. St. Michael’s High School were declared winners.
Srikakulam – Schools from Municipal, Zilla prajaparishad, state Government, Central government and public schools were identified and circulars were sent to depute 8 students from each school. The Government High school Srikakulam was chosen as the venue and the quiz was held on 07.7.2015. 13 Schools participated. The Dy. Educational officer Mr. A. Prabhakararao was invited. He acted as Chief Guest. Gayathri school, Srikakulm won the written round.
Thanjavur - Intach India Heritage Quiz 2015 – Thanjavur was conducted successfully. 13 schools and 100 students participated in this mega event.Kamala Subramaniam Matriculation Higher Secondary School won the written round.
Thrissur - The INTACH India Heritage Quiz saw 73 class 7 - 10 students from 10 schools of Thrissur participating in the Thrissur contest at Hari Sri Vidya Nidhi School, Punkunnam, on July 7, 2015. A warm welcome was given to the students by M. P. Surendran, convenor, who represented INTACH Thrissur together with Vinod Kumar MM, Co-Convenor, Prem Manasvi P., Co-Convenor, Rakesh O. M., Treasurer, Dr. Santhakumaran and Shri. Abdulsamath. Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan won the contest.
Udaipur - 25 educational institutions from Udaipur took part in the Intach Quiz 2015 on 23rd July 2015 at Maharana Mewar Public School (MMPS), City Palace Complex, UDAIPUR. The Convener INTACH and 8 senior Life Members of INTACH UDAIPUR CHAPTER supervised the event. 12 teams participated.
Vizag – The Intach Quiz was conducted in Vishakapatnam at Vizag Public Library on 8th July 2015. The winners were from Navy Children School, Nausenbagh. INTACH Members Present at the Quiz competition were PV Prasad, Edward Paul, Himakar Tata, Chandrasekar, Satyanarayana and Jayshree Hatangadi. The students showed a lot of enthusiasm and the quiz witnessed a big participation.
Warangal - INTACH, Warangal chapter organized Know India Quiz-2015 for High School Students om 14th July, 2015 at New Science Degree College. The District Educational Officer also informed all the Government Schools and sponsored the students from rural areas to participate in quiz program. 37 teams participated even though state of Telangana was celebrating Godavari Pushkaralu from 14/07/2015 to 25/07/2015 which comes once in 144 years, known as Godavari Maha Pushkaralu. Green Wood High School, Hanamkonda got first place.
Salem – INTACH Salem Chapter conducted the INTACH India Heritage Quiz 2015 at Salem on 15th July, 2015 at Sri Vidhya Mandir Hr. Sec. School. 48 teams from 9 schools took part in the quiz.
Rajpipla – 10 schools participated for the INTACH India Heritage Quiz 2015 at Rajpipla, Gujarat held on July 17, 2015. Ayushi Gupta and Naushin Shaikh from GSL School were declared the winners. The event was covered by the local media.
Bilaspur - The Bilaspur round of India’s largest event quiz contest was held by Intach Bilaspur Chapter. The Intach India heritage quiz 2015 was organized at Deokinandan girl H.S. School by Intach and xpress minds. Edu. pvt. Ltd on 11th Aug 2015. The quiz was conducted by Dr. Mrs. Manju Mitra. The Bilaspur quiz was very well attended and saw 58 teams from 15 schools. It was won by Balbharti public school NTPC Seepat.
Dharwad – The INTACH India Heritage Quiz 2015, Dharwad round was conducted on 10th July, 2015 at Presentation Girl’s High School. 176 students from 23 schools participated. K.E. Board’s High School qualified for the zonal final at Bangalore.
Hazaribag - INTACH Hazaribagh Chapter organized the INTACH India Heritage Quiz on 08 August, 2015 at Tourist Information Centre T.I.C), Herangunj, The Quiz was conducted by Justin and Gustav Imam (Life-member INTACH) in the presence of Mr. Ratandeep Sharma (D.A.V) and Md. Ziauddin (St. Xavier’s) along with other delegates and participating parents.
Tripura - Tripura had it's date with INTACH India Heritage Quiz 2015 with the Agartala round held on August 19 2015 at the prestigious Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidyamandir, Gandhigram. This event was part of a 110 city preliminary round across the length and breadth of India making it the largest awareness programme on India's heritage for schoolchildren in the country. The duo christened as "Angels", Saptaparna Das and Manjisha Deb from Sri Sri RaviShankar Vidyamandir emerged as the winners of Agartala
Jabalpur – The Intach India Heritage Quiz 2015 wes held in Jabalpur on 5th August, 2015 at St. Thomas Higher Secondary School and Rani Durgavati Sangrahalaya, Jabalpur. 526 students from various schools participated.
Meerut – The Meerut written round of the INTACH Quiz on Heritage was organised on 19th Aug'2015 at Shanti Niketan Vidyapeeth, Mawana Road Meerut U.P. in which about 120 students participated.
OTHER CHAPTERS WITH SUPPORT OF XPRESSMINDS
INTACH Gwalior chapter and HECS INTACH Delhi organized a two day workshop attended by 23 teachers from 11 schools on 5th- 6th October 2015 in Bharatiyam Vidya Niketan. This workshop started with a warm welcome by Ms. Kamakshi Maheshwari, Governing Council Member, INTACH and a member of Gwalior Chapter of INTACH who welcomed the resource persons and the teachers. Mr. H.P Maheshwari, Madhya Pradesh State Convener, INTACH who is also a well-known historian spoke about the local history and discussed about the history of Gwalior, dynasties and kings who ruled and the structures such as Moti Mahal, Kahaz Mahal etc constructed by them in Gwalior.
Ms. Purnima Datt spoke about INTACH, its history and functions and about heritage clubs too and showed them a film on INTACH for their better understanding about the organization. She asked the teachers about that one thing of Gwalior and their homes they cherish to which teachers gave very interesting answers such as Mother’s traditional food, Grandfather’s water vessel, Panchkani hills, Sun temple, silver glass of grandmother, Sai Baba temple, oil lamp for plants and prayer room, Gopachand Parbhat, Nang Devtha temple, earrings from grandmother, meditation centre at high court, letters from mother and father in law, table cover, raat ki rani plant in the garden, St. John’s Church, book which contains Bible, Koran, Guru Grand Sahib, Gwalior fort , zoo etc.
She showed an elaborate presentation on ‘India’s Heritage’, focused on Natural, Built, Material and living Heritage of India and another presentation on Heritage Education and Teacher’s Training Kit. On the Second day of the workshop, there was a heritage walk to Moti Mahal and Baiza Bai Taal of Scindia Dynasty of Gwalior, an interpreted walk by the Mr. Maheshwari.
He told that teachers that the structures were restored by INTACH ten years back and discussed the history and present state of these monuments and showed them the wall paintings and paint work, different types and methods used for wall paintings in India. Few of the most fascinating paintings were the painting of Lord Krishna and Queens in traditional Maharastrian cloths painted by a painter from Maharastra, Goddess Ganga with Makkar (crocodile) etc. Palace had a huge durbar hall with a grand chandelier and a chamber with all the ragas painted on the wall along with the musicians. At present it houses the office of the Commissioner.
He encouraged the teachers to motivate students to fight for their heritage rightfully. She showed three presentations focusing on HECS, its functions and projects, Adopt a monument and Adopt a craft. Four groups of teachers presented their group presentations in their own unique way on topics such as Gwalior fort, Chambal River, Material heritage preserved in the museum of Jai Vilas Palace and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, the famous Sarod player. She also asked the teachers about their views on the workshop, how INTACH can help the schools and how can schools help INTACH? A Teacher shared it is our duty to preserve every type of heritage and this workshop helped them understand heritage more.
Another teacher shared that the workshop helped them differentiate the various types of heritage and how to go back and teach family members and students to protect our heritage. She urged INTACH to create and spread more awareness among people about heritage. Mr. Umesh Mishra shared that he enjoyed the group presentations by the teachers and asked the teachers to teach history in an enjoyable and interesting manner. Ms Datt appreciated the teachers for their efforts and ended her speech with an inspiring story of a starfish. The workshop was concluded with a group photograph and felicitation ceremony.
Heritage and Education Communication Service (HECS), INTACH Delhi in collaboration with the INTACH Trivandrum Chapter organized a two-day teacher training workshop from 18th -19th September 2015 for 18 teachers from 12 schools at Jawahar Public School. Mr. Shaji Krishnan, Convener INTACH Trivandrum Chapter welcomed all the participants. This was followed by a welcome address by the principal of the Jawahar public school, Father Mathew Chackalackal, he expressed his happiness that the workshop was happening in his school, he appreciated the way the chapter had organized the workshop by mobilizing different schools to send their teachers for the event. This was followed by a an interactive session conducted by Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director, HECS, INTACH Delhi , who also gave presentations on the Heritage of India and what makes it rich and unique, and on HECS, its objectives and Heritage Education programmes. The thrust of the session was geared towards making heritage education appealing to the students. The session also emphasized a comprehensive approach towards heritage. She stressed on utilizing the resources provided to the teachers during the workshop to the maximum as they are very much responsible in shaping the child’s imagination and sensitivity towards her/his heritage and culture as majority of the waking hours they spend with the teacher. She encouraged the teachers to form heritage clubs in their respective schools with the training they have got in developing innovative teaching modules in heritage education as it will help the students in learning about their past and rich heritage through heritage club activities.
This was followed by a small introductory session with Mr. Jaiprakash, chief correspondent of the Kerela Kaumudi, in Varkala, he talked about the history of Varkala stating its reference in the Puranas and in classical Malayalam literature as well as in the writings of Greek and Roman travelers, all sources pointing to the fact that there was a civilization existing in Varkala ever since the dawn of the history.
On the second day of the workshop the teachers were engaged in group activity for developing teaching aids for heritage education, and subsequently a presentation held, a heritage walk was also conducted to the Anjengo fort, a 17th century trading fort that belonged to the Dutch initially but was later overtaken by the British. The workshop concluded with felicitations and distribution of certificates and resource materials.
Aggarwal College for Women, Ballabgarh on 16th Sept ’15, has been conducting INTACH activities for last 5 years. New batch of 40, 1st yr girls was inducted to Heritage young Club and passports and badges were distributed to all. This is their 5th batch in running. To mark the occasion, on the spot painting competition on our monuments was held for all the members of 3 years in which 60 girls participated and 7 prizes were given by us.
Saihnuni Sailo Memorial School Cultural & Heritage Club, Aizawl; Mizoram participated in the National Integration Camp for school children, aged between 15 to 19 years, held at Kurukshetra , Haryana during the 1st-7th August, 2015, which was organized by the Department of Sports & Youth Affairs, Government of Haryana. Traditional costumes, folk dances and folk music were highlighted and performed by different states. Among the nine teams from different states (Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat , Punjab and Mizoram) Siahnuni Sailo Memorial School Cultural & Heritage Club team, consisting of 18 students, all below14 years, and guided by 2 teachers were crowned the BEST TEAM for which a trophy and mementos were awarded to the team.
A Heritage Volunteer Training workshop for undergraduate students was held at the Pune on 2nd September 2015. It witnessed the participation of 40 students and 5 lecturers from four institutions of Pune, including SMEF BRICK Group of Institutes, Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, KHS and BNCA. The students were from diverse educational backgrounds, ranging from Architecture/Interior Designing to Advertising.
After registration, the co-convener of INTACH Pune Chapter, Mr.Sharvey Ramesh Dhongde, introduced the students to the concept of volunteerism and the role that INTACH has played over the decades in conserving heritage. This was followed by a formal inauguration in which candles were floated by one representative of each college in an original Tamba vessel, which was manufactured byTambat craftspersons, who are incidentally being aided by INTACH Pune. This was followed by an energizing round of Surya Namaskar in which all the students participated.After this, the students were asked to share details about their favourite heritage spots, where they find peace, as well as a memory of their grandparents, which would constitute their own personal heritage. The response to the first question was predominantly related to nature and natural heritage and the students recollected their grandmother’s food and even her scolding! After this, the Principal Director of the Heritage Education and Communication Service (HECS) division of INTACH, Ms.PurnimaDatt, made the students aware of the four main kinds of heritage – built, natural, material and intangible heritage, and this was followed by the screening of the INTACH film.
Ms.Supriya Mahabaleshwarkar and Ms.JuiCawade conducted an eye-opening session about Pune’s heritage after this. They drew the attention of the students to unique kinds of heritage in Pune, which the students were not aware about. After this, the students were handed flash cards and were asked to rearrange themselves according to specific heritage of the flashcard that they had received, be it built, natural, material or intangible. These four groups of ten students each were then asked to discuss and share how they would promote the heritage of the flashcard that they had received. They came up with very interesting ideas and suggestions.
This was followed by a presentation by Ms. Tanya Bharat Verma, who gave the students suggestions about the initiatives that they could undertake to safeguard, promote and spread awareness about the different kinds of heritage in their institution. The final session of the day was an interactive one, in which the students were invited to think and share their views among about two questions –What help did they require from INTACH? What kind of initiatives would they undertake in their college? This brain storming session was very productive and it yielded many fruitful ideas. After this, the students were given certificates for their participation in this workshop, and this was followed by a commemorative group photograph. They left the training with a newfound sense of vigour and enthusiasm to carry forward this initiative to promote heritage in their institution.
A one day FilmIt content cum technical workshop in collaboration with INTACH Chandigarh Chapter was organized on 24th August 2015 at the St. John’s School, Chandigarh for teachers and students from participating schools including Saupin's School, Strawberry Fields School, Bhavan Vidyalaya, St. Kabir Public School, St. John’s High School, Vatsal Chaya (NGO), and St. Stephen’s School. Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director, Heritage Education and Communication Service, INTACH Delhi, gave a brief introduction of the project’s outreach to different cities across the country. Mr. V.K. Kapoor, INTACH Chandigarh chapter thanked everyone for participating in the workshop. Ms. Purnima Datt had an interactive session with the students. A PPT was shown through which the FilmIt themes for the current year was shown. She asked the students about their understanding of heritage. After discussing the themes, few movies were shown, through which the technical nuances of filmmaking was discussed. After gaining some insight of the content themes, students gave their suggestions on which they would make their movies on built heritage like: two oldest cinema halls in Chandigarh, golden temple, the medals in Air Force. In built heritage, the temples of snakes, brick temple in lines of architecture of Le Corbusier, gurudwara, church in Kasauli. In material heritage: typewriter, grandmother’s letter collection, history of Punjab Kesari, in material heritage: parandi making, making making of panjiri, halwa, sound of the bell, incense, achar, chocolate cake, jutis, letter collection. In living heritage: weddings in home, onam celebration at home among many others. After a very interesting brainstorming session over the unique ideas at length, the workshop progressed towards the technical aspect. It was conducted by Mr. Anshul Uniyal and Ms. Shreya Kakria of Tuning Fork Films. Few films like ‘The Afghan Burger’ and ‘Save water, save life’ were shown in order to make the students understand the different techniques of making movies. They emphasized on keeping it simple as then everything becomes easy while making a film if one has a unique idea in place. When making a movie on a monument, just do not capture the building and come back. Go and explore, talk to the local people, ask them questions how do they feel that the area has changed over the years. Also focus on the storyboard (research, shots and editing), plan ahead, maintain a chronology of events in your movie, and decide on the shots before on how to take a particular shot. Later on they gave a 15 minute exercise to the participating students to make a 1 minute movie. The movies were later screened and feedback was given to them. They also suggested to the students to visit a website called catchtherain.org for some interesting activities that will help in their movie making process. Later the usage of Windows Movie Maker software was discussed as part of the technical aspects of film making. Students and resource persons thoroughly discussed the various components of the film editing process. The session ended with some interaction with the students asking some technical questions and distribution of Filmit DVD (2013-14) which is a collection of all the best movies selected in year 2014 from all over the country to each school present there.
On 18th August 2015, INTACH’s Heritage Education and Communication Services (HECS), New Delhi organized a technical workshop at Maharani Gayatri Devi Girl’s School, Jaipur. 19 teachers and 79 students from 11 schools attended the workshop. FilmIt is an exciting multi-cultural project which helps students to make short films on their city’s rich heritage followed by an exchange with partner schools in UK and is funded by the Helen Hamlyn Trust of UK. The representatives from Heritage Education and Communication Service, HECS, INTACH, Delhi welcomed all the participants and discussed the themes for the FilmIt project in its Year 5, Phase 2. The students were asked about what they understand by the term heritage. Some of the students answered that heritage to them means a bridge between the past and the present, a legacy that the previous generation has left behind for the new generation to take care of. Then students were asked about their favourite places in Jaipur. Many answered in unison that they like their city’s architecture and especially its monuments like Amer Fort, Jaigarh Fort, Nahargarh Fort, Hawa Mahal. Also the light and sound show which happens frequently at Amer Fort is very interesting and they get to learn so much about the rich history of Jaipur and how the city got its heritage value. After the discussion on the themes for FilmIt for this year, students were encouraged to give their ideas on what theme would they make their movies on. Students came up with ideas like, badi chaupar, construction of new buildings in vicinity of old houses, dying tradition sin Jaipur, teej festival, the celebration of Gangaur festival, making of Ghevar at home by their mothers during teej, ancestral family home (Haveli) in Jauhri Bazar, the traditional secret recipe of Dahi pakora cooked in their house since many centuries among many. After a very interesting brainstorming session over the unique ideas at length, the workshop progressed towards the technical aspect. It was conducted by Mr. Anshul Uniyal and Ms. Shreya Kakria of Tuning Fork Films. Few films like ‘The Afghan Burger’ and ‘Save water, save life’ were shown in order to make the students understand the different techniques of making movies. They emphasized on keeping it simple as then everything becomes easy while making a film if one has a unique idea in place. When making a movie on a monument, just do not capture the building and come back. Go and explore, talk to the local people, ask them questions how do they feel that the area has changed over the years. Also focus on the storyboard (research, shots and editing), plan ahead, maintain a chronology of events in your movie, and decide on the shots before on how to take a particular shot. Later on they gave a 15 minute exercise to the participating students to make a 1 minute movie. The movies were later screened and feedback was given to them. They also suggested to the students to visit a website called catchtherain.org for some interesting activities that will help in their movie making process. Later the usage of Windows Movie Maker software was discussed as part of the technical aspects of film making. Students and resource persons thoroughly discussed the various components of the film editing process. The session ended with some interaction with the students asking some technical questions and distribution of Filmit DVD (2014-15) which is a collection of all the best movies selected from all over the country to each school present there.
On 14th August 2015, INTACH’s Heritage Education and Communication Services (HECS), New Delhi organized a technical workshop at Sri Sankara Vidyashramam School, Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai. 17 teachers and 53 students from 9 schools attended the workshop. FilmIt is an exciting multi-cultural project which helps students to make short films on their city’s rich heritage followed by an exchange with partner schools in UK and is funded by the Helen Hamlyn Trust of UK. Dr. S. Suresh, Convener, Tamil State chapter of INTACH shared information about the heritage activities undertaken in Chennai schools from time to time and how the FilmIt project is welcomed and awaited by the students each year with great enthusiasm. Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director, HECS, INTACH, Delhi welcomed all the participants and discussed the themes for the FilmIt project in its Year 5, Phase 2. She asked students about their favourite places in Chennai which they would like to make their movies on. Some students suggested that they would like to make movies on Fort St. George, temples connected with heritage of Chennai. Some teachers also suggested few ideas like coconut oil, vermillion bindi, voice of grandmother and how she talks and the wrinkles on her hands, a rice recipe made by the grandmother. Also few suggestions on natural heritage suggested by the children were: care and adoption of a dog, or a cat in a temple that always get the prashad. In Built heritage: old library, cupboard and bench, books in grandfather’s cupboard. In Living heritage: ideas like thread ceremony, stamp collection shown by the student along with his grandfather, tradition of music in family, grandmother’s recipe book, or a grandfather’s altimeter used during his Army days, grandfather’s clock, family of 30 members and the old home, safety-pin, typewriter. After brainstorming over the unique ideas at length, the workshop progressed towards the technical aspect. It was conducted by Mr. Vinod Sreedhar and Ms. Shreya Kakria of Tuning Fork Films. Few films like ‘The Afghan Burger’ and ‘Chai Irani, Dosti Purani’ were shown in order to make the students understand the different techniques of making movies. They emphasized on keeping it simple as then everything becomes easy while making a film if one has a unique idea in place. They also suggested to the students to visit a website called catchtherain.org for some interesting activities that will help in their movie making process. Also an important fact to keep in mind is to how long should be a film to have a powerful impact on the audience. There are three steps involved in making a good film:
Good research
Good shots
Good editing
Later the usage of Windows Movie Maker software was discussed as part of the technical aspects of film making. Students and resource persons thoroughly discussed the various components of the film editing process. The workshop ended with much encouraging words from Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director, HECS INTACH that students must enjoy the film making process and not take it as a competition. The session ended with some interaction with the students asking some technical questions and distribution of Filmit DVD (2014-15) which is a collection of all the best movies selected from all over the country to each school present there.
The 2nd year of phase 5 of the Filmit projectand the 5th year at Hyderabad started on the 13th of August at Meridian School for Boys and Girls, Banjara Hills. It is an exciting multi-cultural project which helps students to make short films on their heritage and this is then exchanged with partner schools in UK and is funded by the Helen Hamlyn Trust of UK. 10 schools participated in the workshop. Ms. Anuradha Reddy, Convenor of INTACH Hyderabad Chapter, welcomed everyone to the workshop. The teachers from the participating schools shared their experiences over the years and how this project has been a learning tool for their students as well as for them. Mr. Abhishek Das of Heritage Communication and Educations Service of INTACH introduced the technical experts for the workshop, Ms. Shreya Kakria and Mr. Vinod Sreedhar of Tuning Fork Films. Shreya has a master’s degree from Jamia Milia Islamia and Vinod is music composer and social entrepreneur. He has composed music for many advertisements, short films and documentaries.
The themes of the current year were explained by Abhishek Das and the students were asked to share their experiences in regard to the project. Three films from the previous year were also shown to them.
Vinod and Shreya had a two and half hour long session with the participants. Vinod initiated the session by making the students get up from their seats asking them to show him how they would hold a camera and shoot. He asked them to show the different poses. Then he showed a few films and discussed in detail about films and the technical aspects involved. Shreya spoke about the different types of shots and camera angles and which one should be used when.
During the break, an exercise of making a short film was done. The schools were told to make a short film not more than one minute long which included 10 -12 shots of 4-6 seconds each . This was followed by watching the films made by the students and a feedback session.
Later the usage of Windows Movie Maker software was discussed as part of the technical aspects of film making. Students and resource persons thoroughly discussed the various components of the film editing process. The event was covered by the media.
The INTACH, Heritage and Communication Services (HECS) in order to raise awareness regarding heritage and its conservation engages school children in a short film making project, which relates to their city’s heritage , these films are shared with schools in the UK. This innovative project is also funded by the Helen Hamlyn trust in the United Kingdom.
In order to make children aware of what film making entails, workshops are organised in the different cities with the participating schools, for the city of Ahmedabad, this workshop was held on the 10th of August.
The event was inaugurated by Mr. Abhay Mangaldas the convenor of the Ahmedabad INTACH chapter, he acquainted the audiences with the unique heritage sites of Ahmedabad and the projects INTACH is involved in. He also talked about the nomination of Ahmedabad as a world heritage city, the making of signages and also developing a new website called uexplore.com. This was followed by the screening of the INTACH film.
The next session was a brain storming exercise with the students on the themes for the film it, which was conducted by Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director HECS, INTACH. The children were asked to share a thought about a family heritage of theirs. The children talked about an ancient musical instrument called “surpeti”, books from the freedom struggle period and the Sarkej library. Children also shared how Puran Poli, a traditional food dish is prepared. Children also shared their thoughts on the making and smell of cow dung cakes, the unique festival of bisu as well as the unique dargahs of Ahmedabad. In terms of conserving natural heritage the children talked about saving sparrows. While some shared their thoughts on spreading awareness regarding conservation within the community with the help of popular radio stations such as Radio Mirchi.
The second session was conducted by our technical resource persons from the tuning fork films, who talked to the children regarding the essentials of movie making and editing. The children were explained the different shots of a photograph and video capturing and the editing explained through the use of windows movie maker software.
Children also shot videos, around the premises as an example exercise they were told to shoot videos that have around 10 to 15 shots, all their films were screened and commented upon by our resource persons.
On the 11th of August Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director HECS, INTACH undertook school visits to the five Ahmedabad schools, namely Mahatma Gandhi international school and the Ahmedabad international school, in these schools the Filmit project is undertaken by the photography and the film making club. The other schools visited were Anand Niketan and DPS Bopal, here the children associated with the heritage club of the school are part of the film it project, whereas in the Global Indian International School, Ahmedabad also visited by the Principal Director the film it project involves children of class 5 and 6.
As a part of Filmit project year 5 phase 2, a workshop was organized on the 7th of August in Sharda Mandir School, Goa actively participated by 85 students and 13 teachers from 12 schools. The workshop was inaugurated by Principal of Sharda Mandir School, Ms Sharmila Umesh. She spoke to the students about the importance of heritage and also about her school’s support to the Filmit project every year. While talking to the students, Ms. Fatima Gracias, Convener Goa Chapter spoke about Goan heritage and works done by the INTACH Goa Chapter. This was followed by the interactive session about the content of the films conducted by Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director, HECS INTACH, Delhi. Students shared ideas such as a movie on a 450 year old church named Ribandar church, Municipal Corporation building, a heritage home with gun silts, an old Jain temple, 9 yard traditional saree of Goa etc. Mr Vinod Sreedhar, who was invited to speak to the students and motivate them, he is a music composer and a social entrepreneur and has worked on issues from social activism for reducing civic apathy, creating awareness about ecological living among the youth and also has composed music for many ads, short films and documentaries. He spoke on how film making is different and how even a 30 seconds film can be very effective. He also showed a film about a fish and care for water. Students were also shown a movie about Afghan burger and later, they responded on the emotions and about their own feelings of the films. He spoke about the shots angles, pan shots, close shots, close up and mid shots, eye level, top angle, low angle, front angle, side angle, the rule of the thirds, editing, movie maker, etc. He also showed a film on disability and discussed about the kind of shots and a count was also done of the shots. He also suggested to the students to visit a website called catchtherain.org for some interesting activities that will help in their movie making process.
The Film It workshop which is organised and conducted by the INTACH, Heritage and Communication Division aiming at raising awareness towards heritage in an all encompassing sense through the medium of short films which are conceptualised and executed by middle school children is a unique platform in itself as it allows for children to explore their creativity by being aware of seemingly common things and experiences and place them in the broader understanding of heritage.
To make the participants familiar to what Film It is, workshops are held that are aimed at making students aware of the content and the technical part of the exercise, this was conducted for the city of Bombay on the seventh of august.
The workshop started with an introductory session by Ms. Gargi Mashruwala from the INTACH Greater Mumbai chapter, this was followed by an introduction to the resource persons Ms. Sachi Maniar, from the Tuning Fork Films and Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director INTACH, Heritage and Communication Division. The introduction was given by Ms. Priyanka.
The interactive session that was conducted by Ms. Datt focused on the themes on which the Film It project focuses this year, which are creating awareness for the protection of water bodies, trees, flowers and animals, monuments of both types religious and secular heritage homes and its relationship with local community, heritage of rail journeys and communication heritage etc.
The session was aimed at making students think about heritage in their immediate surroundings, relating to ideas, practices and objects that have been present in their own homes. Students thus came up with examples of books, the sound of puja bells, and a certain balm that the grandmother prepares for healing wounds which is not known to her mother, and the grandmother preparing puran poli.
A student, shared insights on how her native language Tamil has undergone changes, because of her travelling to different places with her parents. The students also recounted and spoke about the distinct heritage of Bombay, which is known for its composite culture, the monuments brought up by the students were Asiatic library, the old dock yard called popularly as the Bhau Chau Dhaka, the old jetty that is used as a medium of transport, also the Jewish synagogue was pointed by the students to be a heritage monument.
The technical aspect of the workshop was elucidated upon by Ms. Maniar, began with showing a short film “lets catch the rain”, which highlighted the importance of conserving water, another short film was about the Afghan burger, and the message revolving around the coming of Afghan refugees into India and how that has added to the Indian culture in this case by coming of a new food item.
The technical expert also made the students aware of the basics of camera operation for instance different angles of taking photographs the top angle, the close up shot, the mid shot etc. explaining the relevance and use of such shots. She acquainted the students with the rule of one – third that is commonly used in photography. A short film on disability was shown to students and they were asked to identify the number of shots used in the particular movie, the students shoot a movie, as an example exercise, the movies shot by the students shoot were of 10 – 15 shots. Ms. Maniar also explained the students the basic operation of the windows movie maker software as this software will be used by the students to create their film.
The festival was held on 10th February 2015 in Sharada Mandir School attended actively by 100 students and 15 teachers from 10 schools. The event began with a welcome speech by Fatima Da Silva Gracias, Convenor Goa Chapter. She welcomed Mrs. Purnima Datt, Principal Director, HECS, INTACH Delhi and the two chief guests Mr. Prashant Panjiar and Eduardo Kol de Carvalho. It was now to show the best films of Goa, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. Mr Prashant Panjiar, who is one of the best photographers of India spoke to the children and shared his experience. He has worked for India’s two best magazines, India Today and Outlook as the Photo journalist. He now runs his own syndication firm, Livewire Images. In 2000, he held his acclaimed photo exhibition ‘Kings & Commoners’, and in 2004 published India: The Definitive Images. He said that it was a beautiful experience watching the films made by the children. He believe that even though there are many languages , but that one language which reaches out to the people is the language of films and appreciated the two films- The story of the Wall by Regina Mundi School and Mahadeva Temple – Tambdi Surla Goa by Vidya Vikas Academy. While giving tips to the students, he said Please don’t hurry in telling a story, take your time in using a camera because it’s important to evoke the feelings which a makes a great film. Mr. Eduardo Kol de Carvalho, Delegate of Fundacoa Oriente Goa said it is very important to work on heritage and capture different cultures because Goa is rich in heritage. He feels even a silent movie can speak volumes and you can capture attention through the use of images. Children shared experiences on the project; Rosary High School sang a Konkani song. Noah Pinheiro from Don Bosco High School shared that being the filmit club and making movies was a pleasure and before he joined the club he knew very little about making the movies. The first movie made was called ‘Chonak Fry’, which was awarded the best screenplay award. It was really a great learning experience for him as he grew an interest in photography and videography. The other film was named ‘traditional ways of catching fish’. This movie making experience has let him know more about Goan tradition and has taught him a lot. Another student narrated a poem which goes like...
“It was challenge, it was fun To film it, to film it, film it And film it we did Nature, heritage and profession The fruit of their labour: House, temple, tower. Our feelings opened to fellow humans Be they Goans or Romans Who serve us night and day Thank you, INTACH, for this experience May you always remain intact! Thank you, Hamelyn Trust You surely deserve our trust, Thanks to you Our first experience will not be our last. The festival ended with felicitation ceremony wherein the students were awarded certificates and prizes.
Heritage Education and Communication Service, INTACH had organized the Delhi Filmit Film Festival in collaboration with IIC, held on 6th February 2015 at India International Centre. 26 teachers with 191 students from 26 schools participated in the event. The Chief Guest of the event was Ms. Sushma Seth, a theatre veteran and Guests of Honor were Mr, Suhail Yusuf Khan, a renowned Sarangi player, Mr. Rupin Dang, an eminent filmmaker and Dr. Swapna Liddle, Co-Convenor, Delhi Chapter, INTACH. A welcome address was given by Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director HECS. Followed by which the event unfolded with the students’ presentations that included skit, dance, song, poem and instrument playing that reflected their experiences of the filmit project. Later best films were screened. The Chief Guest and the Guests of Honour shared their thoughts and encouraged the students to keep up the good work. Ms. Seth gave some words of encouragement that it is indeed a pleasure to witness such talent at such a young age. INTACH must be thanked for this wonderful initiative as film making is a powerful medium, so should be utilized to the best of its potential to raise awareness about our culture and heritage. Mr. Suhail Yusuf Khan also congratulated the students that he has not seen such creative movies from students at a same platform anywhere but at INTACH. He also encouraged the children to keep pursuing their dreams and success shall come to them. Mr Dang emphasized on the role of effective communication as film as a medium is a very powerful tool to get one’s message across.
Dr. Swapna Liddle advised the students to explore the city more and find out those nook and crannies of the city where the essence of Delhi’s heritage still lives. Event concluded with the prize and certificate distribution according to the categories decided including best direction, cinematography, movie with a message, unique concept, original story etc.
Some excerpts from the children’s experiences are enclosed herewith.
‘Bole nani suno kahani, Na koi raja, na koi rani Hai ek director aur ek editor Ek pakde hai camera aur duja hai script writer, Dilli ka lia heritage Di talabo ko footage Kabhi riti-riwaz par film banay Kabhi monument ka itihas batay.’
… MCPS, Nangloi Saidan
‘Studying in MCD Primary School, Never had dreamt of using this tool. INTACH gave the platform to explore and shoot At that point of time everything was mood. This was the feeling the very first year Achieving the esteemed goal Approached near and dear From care for tree to phulwati amma The journey was full of excitement and karma.’ … Abhishek Roy, Nigam Pratibha, New Chaukhandi
‘Hey listen up! The story of filmit The sixth period And we fortunate Got an opportunity With our mates The filmit project That belongs to INTACH, INTACH and only INTACH. This was a chance to come together Nature, festival, culture and tradition. All this stuff in one nation We will try more and give our best The story shall always continue As every project will have something new.’
… Kanishka Nijhawan, Hans Raj Model School
Heritage Education and Communication Service, INTACH had organized the Kolkata Filmit Film Festival at Birla High School for Boys, Moira Street, Kolkata on 3rd February 2015. 11 teachers with 71 students from 9 schools participated in the event. A welcome address was given by Ms. Purnima Datt, Principal Director HECS. The chief guest for the event was Mr. Sanjay Mukherjee, professor of Film Studies, Jadavpur University. He said film making is a science and an art at the same time. Our initiative to preserve memories is weak. Early 19th century movies got lost because of this ignorance. He brought to the audience’s attention that the earliest of film documentation started in Kolkata. He also regretfully mentioned that the documentaries made on Mahatama Gandhi has not been archived well and got lost with the passing time. Before 1931, no Bangla movie was archived. The first ever Bangla movie to be archived was Jamai Babu. He also said that the first ever movie screened in India was the Watson Hotel. He also suggested that the usage of photographs is also a good idea when making a film. He pointed outthat India in general lacks historical sense. He ended his speech with a suggestion that if anyone wants to see the old movies, they can approach the National Film Archives at Pune. He said that making movies with children is a joyful experience and must be encouraged. Later Best films were screened. Few students shared their experiences. Students of Birla High School for Boys did a very interesting mime. The event was concluded with felicitation of students and teachers with certificates and prizes.
A Heritage Volunteer Training workshop for undergraduate and postgraduate students was held at the INTACH Head Office in Delhi on 15th and 16th January 2015. It witnessed the participation of close to 85 students from nine colleges of the University of Delhi, the Department of History and Culture of JamiaMilliaIslamia and the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
The training was focused on making the students aware about different facets of India’s heritage and the steps that they can undertake to propagate and promote heritage in their institution. The Principal Director of the Heritage Education and Communication Service (HECS) division of INTACH, Ms. PurnimaDatt, introduced the students to the four main kinds of heritage– built, natural, material and intangible. During the course of the two days, there were lectures by specialists about the different kinds of heritage. For instance, Ms. Padma Rohilla, Centre Coordinator of the Indian Conservation Institute (ICI), INTACH, spoke about the different kinds of material heritage and the conservation efforts that are undertaken by conservators to prolong the life of various artifacts. Ms. A. Vijaya, Director Programmes of the AH Division spoke about Architectural Heritage, and the various restoration initiatives that have been undertaken by her division. Since all the participating students arestudying in Delhi, there was a focus on the city’s heritage as well. Dr. Narayani Gupta, Director of the Documentation Centre at INTACH and a renowned historian, spoke about the heritage of Delhi, and Prof. A. G. Krishna Menon, Convenor of the Delhi Chapter, INTACH, spoke about its nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage City.
In addition to these eye-opening lectures, the students were also given a glimpse of the different kinds of heritage. They were taken for a heritage walk to Lodhi Gardens to understand the various features associated with the built heritage of these historical monuments and surrounding natural heritage. They also visited the Textile Conservation Laboratory and Material Heritage Laboratory, to learn from the conservators working there. Ms. Gunjan Joshi, of the Intangible Cultural Heritage division, conducted a presentation-cum-demonstration session of the SeraikellaChhau dance form of Jharkhand. The animated documentary, Tanko Bole Chhe, which celebrates the art and passion of the Kutch artisans associated with Kala Raksha, was also screened.
The students were given suggestions about the initiatives that they could undertake to promote heritage in their institution, and they were asked for their inputs about what they would like to do as volunteers for heritage. They were invited to think about and share their views regarding three questions – What help could they offer to INTACH? What help did they require from INTACH? What kind of initiatives would they undertake in their college? This brain storming session was very productive and it yielded many fruitful ideas about the steps that the students were willing to undertake in order to promote heritage. They left the training with a newfound sense of vigor and enthusiasm to carry forward this initiative to promote heritage in their institution.
INTACH HECS organized a painting competition with the recycled material for Delhi schools as part of World Heritage Week celebrations on November 20, 2014. The 29 winners of the competition under the category of monuments, endangered animals and birds and rivers were felicitated on 27th January 2015 during the 30th founder’s day celebrations of INTACH. One of the winners from Army Public School spoke on the rich heritage and the need to conserve it. The certificates and prizes were handed over by Chairman, INTACH Maj. Gen (retd.) L. K Gupta and Member secretary, Dr. C.T. Mishra who also gave the words of encouragement and appreciation. The winners also displayed their paintings to the audience on the day of their felicitation day.
