Heritage Education and Communication Service, INTACH conducted a teacher training workshop at Yamunanagar, Haryana on the 7th and 8th of December, 2012 at Vishva Bharati College of Education. The workshop commenced with a welcome note by Retd. Major Rajinder Singh Bhatti, Convenor, INTACH Yamunanagar Chapter. He introduced Ms. Purnima Datt and Prof. Rajpal Singh (History) and welcomed the guests. Prof. Singh gave a short presentation on the various heritage sites in and around Yamunanagar that have been listed till now.

The Chief Guest for the occasion was Dr. B.L. Saini, MLA, Radaur. He delivered a short speech encouraging the teachers to contribute towards learning the heritage of our country and the state of Haryana. Mr. Siddharth, member of INTACH, Yamunanangar gave a short presentation on the Buddhist sites in Yamunanagar and a proposal that he and his team have made for erecting replicas of Ashokan pillars and edicts. A presentation was given by Ms Purnima Datt about what makes India unique and its rich heritage and another presentation on HECS, its objectives and Heritage Education programmes.The second day started with a visit to the Buddhist site, Chaneti, Rang Mahal and Pataleshwar Mahadev temple complex which also houses some monuments from the Mughal period and a baoli. The workshop concluded with a certificate distribution ceremony by Ms. Datt, Maj. Bhatt, Convenor INTACH Yamunanagar Chapter. Heritage club badges and passports, Hands on Heritage and Adopt a Monument books were given to teachers from each school. Heritage tour to Rang Mahal, Yamunanagar Award ceremony Yamunanagar

Srikakulam,20th November

The Srikakulam Chapter during the World Heritage Week conducted an essay competition called Harit Sankalp: Care for Nature for secondary school students from classes 6th to 9th at the Government Girls High School, Srikakulam on 20th November 2012. Students from 8 schools attended. In his opening remarks, Mr D.V.Dharmarao, Convenor explained the aims and objectives of the programme.

They supported it with creative material including posters, paintings, collages, films and even photographs. At the end Mementoes were given to guests.

A three-day heritage festival (along with folk song competition) was organized from 4th December to 6th December, 2012 by INTACH Amritsar Chapter. They also conducted the Harit Sankalp: Care for Nature Essay Competition at Shri Ram Ashram Public school and S.L. Bhawan’s school respectively. 46 students from five schools participated in the essay writing competition. They supported it with creative material including posters, paintings, collages, films and even photographs. Mr. Amrit Lal Mannan, Coordinator, INTACH School heritage clubs Amritsar Chapter emphasized the need of immediate response of the government to rising pollution in Amritsar and crumbling of heritage buildings. Also on this occasion, Dr. Sukhdev Singh, Punjab State Convenor, INTACH highlighted the role of students in the movement for cultural heritage. His plan was given a practical shape by organizing walks at Jallianwala Bagh, Akhara Sangal wala and Akhara Bala Nand. Later the programme concluded with Prize distribution.

Heritage Walk on 18th December 2012 with 60 students of Dayawati Modi Academy, Rampur. The students visited the world- renowned Rampur Library where the Director Prof. Azizuddin Hussain guided the students who also visited INTACH’s in-house conservation laboratory in the library. The students were told about the various techniques used in the conservation and restoration of manuscripts and paintings.

INTACH Rampur chapter organized a Heritage Walk on 18th December 2012 with 60 students of Dayawati Modi Academy, Rampur. The students visited the world- renowned Rampur Library where the Director Prof. Azizuddin Hussain guided the students who also visited INTACH’s in-house conservation laboratory in the library. The students were told about the various techniques used in the conservation and restoration of manuscripts and paintings.

Heritage run

INTACH Gurgaon chapter organized a Heritage Run at Leisure Valley on Sat 24 Nov 2012 with a total of 14 schools with 1,059 children participated. Some of the schools are Chiranjeev Bharati School, Palam Vihar, Chiranjeev Bharati School, Sushant Lok-I, Delhi Public School, Sector 45, Rabindranath World School, The Happy School etc accompanied by two or more teachers. Bands from schools Delhi Public School, Sector 45, Rabindranath World School Summer Fields School participated. The Band from Summer Fields School was declared the best band and was awarded the Best Band Trophy. The Chief Guest at the function was Gen (Retd) Lalit K Gupta, AVSM, Chairman INTACH. He was accompanied by Mrs Sarla Gupta. The Chief Guest flagged off the Runners at 9 am. Other Guests such as Mr Rene Bach Larsen, MD, Geodis Overseas Pvt Ltd with Ms Sunanda Rao, Manager Marketing & PR. Ms Rashmi Kaul and Ms Nikita Singh from Fortis, Ms Asha Sharma, Chair. The Chapter also the great assistance we received from Mr Maheswar Dayal, DCP, Gurgaon East District, Haryana Police, in providing with the police patrol van and team of policemen to assist in the conduct of the run. Mr Vishnu Sahai, Chairman and Members, Heritage Run organizing Committee, INTACH-Gurgaon Chapter did outstanding efforts in concluding this event so successfully.

Harit Sankalp is a pan India competition wherein INTACH’s chapters conducts the essay competition among school students with the mission aimed at promoting the spirit of appreciation, exploration and conservation of India’s natural heritage. INTACH’s Heritage Education and Communication Service along with INTACH U.K. Trust inaugurated the essay Competition “Harit Sankalp: Care for Nature” at INTACH on the 23rd November 2012 for school students from 40 schools including both public and government schools in Delhi. This essay competition was a part of the Heritage Week (19th – 23rd November 2012) activities at INTACH. The competition was inaugurated with a welcome speech by Moby Sara Zachariah. Ms. Purnima Datt, Director HECS. INTACH gave a general introduction about the project and also spoke about the natural heritage of Delhi. Ms. Nirupama Modwell, director Intangible Heritage Division, INTACH, spoke to the students about natural heritage and importance to preserve our heritage. Col. Bhatia, Head of Chapter division who was also present in the function to encourage the students and spoke about INTACH, its chapters and its divisions. He also encouraged the students to become members of INTACH.

INTACH heritage club students wrote their essays on any one natural heritage feature of Delhi and their suggestions to save it. They supported it with creative material including posters, paintings, collages,films and even photographs.

INTACH Heritage and Communication Services, New Delhi organised a theatre workshop for various schools from Delhi on 20th November at Gandhi Plaza, India International Centre, Lodi Estate. It was conducted by Mr. Faisal Alkazi, an eminent theatre and television director. He is also an educationist, counsellor, trainer and costume designer. Twelve schools from all over the city participated. Ms. C.T. Mishra, Member Secretary of INTACH was invited as the chief guest for the event. The workshop began with a short introduction about what INTACH does by Ms. Purnima Datt, Director (HECS). A short introductory note about Mr. Alkazi was given by Ms. Bashobi Banerjee. Then Mr. Alkazi gave a short speech on theatre and heritage spoke to the students. The workshop began with the students being divided into pairs and then given different themes to work on. Finally they were put into 5-6 different groups and were given the theme of “slavery during the early medieval age” to act out a short skit. The students came up with very innovative ideas and were lauded by the audience. The workshop concluded with words of encouragement for the students by Ms. Mishra and the certificates for participation were distributed thereafter by Member Secretary, INTACH and Mr. Alkazi.

INTACH Heritage and Education Communication Service (HECS) New Delhi, along with the INTACH Srikakulam chapter organized a two-day training workshop for college professors and lecturers from various disciplines to sensitize them about heritage and heritage education on 5th and 6th November 2012 at Government Degree College, Srikakulam, Andhra Prdesh. 38 colleges took part in the workshop. The Chief Guest for the ocassion was the Additional Joint Collector Sri A. Rajakumar who inaugurated the event and inspired the lecturers to create better cultural ambience in the colleges by utilizing the heritage clubs and develop the level of awareness in the youth which ultimately leads towards patriotism, service approach, and values in life. A short presentation was made by Mr. Dharma Rao, convenor, Srikakulam Chapter on the various heritage sites in and around Srikakulam. This was followed by a speech by Mr. B. Polisu, Principal, Govt. Degree College. He talked about the need to preserve the monuments and their heritage. He also stressed on the need to sustain it for the future generations. A presentation was given by Ms. Purnima Datt about what makes India unique and its rich heritage and another presentation on HECS, its objectives and Heritage Education programmes.

The second day started with a site visit to a Buddhist site called Salihundam. After returning from the site visit two more presentations were given by Ms. Datt and also by the partcipating teachers on the various types of heritage. The workshop concluded with a certificate distribution ceremony by Ms. Datt, Mr. Rao, Mr. Polisu and Mr. P.V. Kumar, Convenor INTACH Vishakapatnam Chapter. Heritage club badges and “Adopt a Monument” books were given to teachers from each college.

Ms. Purnima Datt, Director, INTACH Heritage Education and Communication Service and Mr. Abhishek Das, (Programme Coordinator) had an informal meeting with the members of Vishakapatnam Chapter on November 6th, 2012. Mr. Dharma Rao, Convenor, Srikakulam Chapter was present, along with Mr. P.V. Prasad, Convenor, Vishakapatnam Chapter. Ms. Purnima Datt gave a short brief on what Heritage Education and Communication Service does, like organising essay and painting competitions, teacher training workshops, FilmIt programme etc. A few films from the ongoing FilmIt project were shown as the there was great enthusiasm shown by the members who want to participate in it from the next session onwards. She also explained about the “young INTACH” website. The members spoke about organising various activities like heritage walks etc. to promote more awareness among the children and residents of Vishakapatnam. Ms. Datt thanked the members for their active participation in various activities organised by INTACH. The short meet was followed by refreshments and dinner.

Heritage and Education Communication Service (HECS), INTACH in collaboration with the INTACH Darjeeling chapter convenor Mr. Bharat Prakash Rai organized a two-day teacher training workshop from 15th-16th October 2012 at Darjeeling-Kurseong for 44 teachers from 28 schools at the Turnbull High School and Gurkha Library, Kurseong respectively. The Chief Guest Dr. G.S. Yonzone inaugurated the event and spoke about the rich heritage of Darjeeling city and the challenges faced by the people in restoring it. A presentation was given by Ms. Purnima Datt about what makes India unique and its rich heritage and another presentation on HECS, its objectives and Heritage Education programmes. The workshop concluded with felicitations by Mr. Haren Allay, Chairman, FOSEP and Advisor, INTACH Darjeeling Chapter and Mr. Gopichand Pradhan, President, Nepali Sahitya Sammelan gave away the prizes.

Distribution of Hands on heritage, Gujarati

On 28th September 2012, Education department had organized a seminar of principals of Higher Secondary and Secondary Schools of Mehsana District. The meeting was attended by Mr. R.R Varsani the director of Higher Secondary and Secondary Schools of Gujarat state. Jawahar V. Mehta, Convener Mehsana chapter attended the seminar and spoke in his lecture about formation of heritage clubs in schools and importance of the guide book ‘Hands on Heritage’. After the meeting, the book was distributed to the principals. The chapter is planning to distribute these books in the schools of Patan, Banas- Kantha and Sabar- Kanha.

On World Monument Fund Watch Day, HECS in collaboration with the Architectural Heritage division and INTACH Varanasi chapter organized a one-day teacher training workshop on 25th September 2012 for 44 teachers from 22 schools at the Vanita Public School, Varanasi with the support of INTACH Varanasi chapter and Chapter convenor Mr Kalyan Krishna. A presentation was given by Ms. Purnima Datt about what makes India unique and its rich heritage and another presentation on HECS, its objectives and Heritage Education programmes followed by the Heritage walk to the Ganga Mahal and Balaji Ghat which is dedicated to Lord Balaji. The workshop concluded with felicitations by Ameeta Baig of World Monument Fund and Bindu Manchanda of Architectural Heritage Division, INTACH.

Delhi, 20th July and 4th August

On the 20th July, 2012 INTACH’s Heritage Education and Communication Services (HECS), New Delhi organized a workshop for developing of film content at INTACH for 22 public and government schools of Delhi Feisal Alkazi, an eminent theatre personality and educationist conducted the workshop. He had many interesting brainstorming sessions on the themes for the short films like the success stories on saving water, trees, animals; adopting a monument or a museum and heritage of my school. Another well known personality from the advertising world, Mr. Sanjeev Mehta, an ad film maker discussed the pointers of a good film and gave his inputs on the latest technology used in editing films. The workshop ended with a vote of thanks and words of encouragement by the Member Secretary, Dr. C.T. Misra, INTACH.

The Filmit India Technical Workshop was held on 4th August 2012 at INTACH. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Andy Huntington a designer and an educator from London, UK discussed about the technicality involved in making a short film. He gave an input on the latest technology used in editing films like Windows Movie Maker 6.0. He spoke to the students and teachers about the use of digital film-making software. The Chairman of INTACH General L.K. Gupta gave the students the DVD of last year’s films and encouraged them to care for heritage. The Member Secretary also gave her words of encouragement to the students.

Goa, 25th August

A one day workshop was organized for teachers and students of 7 schools on 25th August to introduce them to the project in phase 4, its objectives and to interact with them at Sunaparantha Centre for the Arts, Altinho by Andy Huntington and Purnima Datt. The programme was launched by Ms Fatima Gracias, Co Convenor Goa, INTACH. 7 schools participated in the workshop The teachers shared their experiences of phase 3 and were appreciative of the efforts of INTACH and the Helen Hamlyn Trust. The students also worked out the content of 4 films and the storyline was shared in the workshop.

Mumbai, 27th August

Interactive session Filmit workshop, Mumbai Addressing students at Bombay Scottish, Mumbai

A one day workshop was organized for teachers and students on 27th August 2012 to introduce them to the project, its objectives and to interact with them at Nalanda Foundation, Byculla, Mumbai by Andy Huntington and Purnima Datt. The programme was launched by INTACH Mumbai Chapter by Ms Gargi Mashruwalla. 4 schools participated in the workshop, including Bombay Scottish School, The Nalanda Foundation, Lilavatibai Podar School and Arya Vidya Mandir. The workshop included a content session and a technical session.

Chennai, 3rd September

A one day workshop was organized on 3rd September for teachers and students to introduce them to the project, its objectives and to interact with them at Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School, Adyar, Chennai conducted by Ms. Purnima Datt, Director, Heritage Education and Communication Service (HECS), INTACH. The programme was launched by Dr. Suresh, Convenor INTACH Tamil Nadu Chapter. 8 schools participated in the workshop. The techniques of making a good film was discussed by the noted film director Dr S.Krishnaswamy. He spoke of enjoying the process of film making and on picking up the grammar of film making by keenly observing programmes like Citizen Journalist. He made the well known documentary from Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi and currently is making the film on Indian Imprints in SE Asia.

Hyderabad, 4th September

A one day workshop was organized for teachers and students on 4th September 2012 to introduce them to the project, its objectives and to interact with them at the Meridian School, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad conducted by Ms. Purnima Datt, Director, Heritage Education and Communication Service (HECS), INTACH . The programme was launched by Anuradha Reddy, Convenor Hyderabad Chapter, INTACH. 8 schools participated in the workshop. The workshop included a content session and a technical session. The technical session included a briefing on the project for the technical teachers. Abhishek Das, Programme Coordinator, HECS-INTACH helped to bring out the details of filmmaking and a short film together with young directors Edward Pergti and Vijay Bhanu.

Kolkata, 14th September

A one day workshop was organized for teachers and students to introduce them to the project, its objectives and to interact with them at Binsha Shatabdi, Park Street, Kolkata on 14th September 2012.7 schools participated in the workshop. Noted film director Mallika Jalan discussed the art of making films as well as the role of a director.

HECS in collaboration with INTACH Trivandum chapter organized for Conveners and Teacher Training Workshop Trivadrum on 18th and 19th August 2012 for Conveners and representatives from various INTACH chapters of Kerala and 32 teachers from 17 schools. The workshop started with a welcome note by Mr Shaji Krishnan, Co-Convenor, Trivandrum Chapter, welcoming the organizers and participants. His welcome note was followed by welcome speech and brief history of the school by Sister Rose Anne, Manager, St Roch’s Convent School, Trivandrum. Ms. Purnima Datt gave a presentation on Heritage and its divisions and also focusing on the criteria for selecting heritage, endangered heritage, factors that affect heritage and what steps can be taken to preserve Heritage. Teachers were asked one- liners to describe India and its heritage. We got to hear interesting answers like Unity in Diversity, Culturally rich, fascinating, incredible, talented, East or west- India is the best, value preservation, Sare Jajan se acha etc. There was a presentation by Mr. Anil Kumar Pandala, Project Director, Thiruvanathapuram Road Development Company Limited (TRDCL). He spoke on conserving built heritage in a growing city– the Trivandrum Experience. This informative presentation was followed by the release of Malayalam version of Hands on Heritage- a guidebook for teachers by his highness Uthradon Thirunal Marthanda Varma, Maharaja of Travancore and INTACH Founder member. Regional winners of Trivandrum of My City My History competition were presented with trophies by Marthanda Varma. Ms Ramini Menon, Heritage Club In-charge, Government High School, Peruvallur, Mallapuram spoke about her heritage club activities which includes collection of objects and artifacts from over 1300 nearby houses and exhibiting them, helping Archive department to collect and preserve artifacts, publishing a lab journal called Peruvallur Patrika, Her speech was followed by a presentation titled Built landscape of Trivandrum by Ms. Rajashree Mohan, an architect, focusing on the history and buildings of Trivadrum such as palaces, royal residential building, and temples, cultural centres, Brahmin colony etc. The participants were taken for a field trip to the South Palace, built for the recreational activities of Royal family of Travancore. Mr. Shaji Krishnan interpreted the history and architecture of the palace. It is a sea facing structure with a typical Kerala style architecture. Next stop of the walk was the Mandapam, a stone pavilion which was used by the Royal family to perform religious ceremonies and rituals. The workshop ended with a certificate distribution ceremony and distribution of heritage club passports and badges, Hands on Heritage to teachers from each school from presided over by Mr. Shaji.N. Karun, well-known film maker.

HECS in collaboration with Tamil Nadu chapter organized Conveners and Teacher Training Workshop for 12 representatives from various Tamil Nadu INTACH chapters and 35 teachers from 19 schools. The workshop commenced with a welcome note by Ms. Lakshmi Siddarth, Member, INTACH Salem Chapter welcoming the Chief Guest, Mr. Ranganathan, Chairman, Sri Vidya Mandir Group of Schools, Salem, organizers and participants. Dr. S. Suresh, State Convener, Tamil Nadu spoke about INTACH and its heritage conservation programmes. Then he welcomed the chief guest, Mr. Ranganathan to release Tamil version of Hands on Heritage-the guidebook for teachers. Mr. Ranganathan spoke about the importance of heritage and said ‘we all come from, stand and live in heritage’. This was followed by a presentation given by Ms. Datt about what makes India a unique country which includes mountains, rivers, deserts, people etc. The first day of the workshop concluded with Conveners meet. Topics like Inter school programmes, competitions with the support of INTACH chapters (atleast quarterly), initiation of a common public forum or a common email ID to communicating with INTACH Chapter members etc. A heritage walk to Government Museum, Salem was organized for the teachers. The Museum Curator Mr. Mullairasu spoke about the history of the museum and its artifacts. Museum contained artifacts such as Burial urns, wooden carvings, stone chariots, contemporary temples cars, items of a famous local poet, Ramalingan Pillai, coral fossils, There was a collection of musical instruments, stone tools, sticks for plucking fruits, stamps and coins and Salem copper cash etc. There were special postage stamps issued during the year 1888-89, coins of Dutch East India Company, coins of Vijayanagar Kingdom, Mysore Hindu Raj, rulers like Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan, Kadappan Nawabs etc. The workshop ended with a certificate distribution ceremony and distribution of heritage club passports and badges, Hands on Heritage to teachers from each school from presided over by Meenakshi Sethu, Convener, Salem Chapter and Mr. S. Sharavanan, Co- Convener Salem Chapter.

HECS, INTACH, in collaboration with the INTACH Jammu Chapter organised Two-day teacher training workshop on 6 -7th August 2012 for 48 teachers from 35 District schools of Reasi District at the Spiritual Growth Centre, run by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Katra, Jammu. The workshop began with welcome speech by Mr. S.M. Sahni, Director, and Spiritual Growth Centre. There was an Inaugural session attended by teachers, guests and resource persons such as Sh. Kuldeep Wahi, Sr. Member INTACH, Mrs. Sham Kesar, President Hotel & Restaurant Association, Katra, Dr. M.K. Bandari, Addl. CEO Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Mr. Kuldeep Gupta, Deputy Education Provident Officer, Reasi, Sh. Harish Dubey, Principal Girls Hr. Sec. School, Katra etc. This Inaugural session was followed by an introduction about heritage given by Ms. Purnima Datt, Director, HECS INTACH. This was followed by a presentation given by Ms. Datt about what makes India unique and its rich heritage. This was followed by another presentation on HECS, its objectives and Heritage Education programmes Day 2 of the workshop started with walk at Spiritual Centre by Mr. S.M. Sahni, Director, Spiritual Growth Centre starting from Conference hall, library cum research centre containing many religious books and manuscripts mostly belonging to Vedic period, Amphitheatre open for musical programme, dances and religious gathering, then to the prayer and meditation centre, Acharya Ashram and the souvenir shop selling organic and Khadi products. This was followed by the site visits to three Hindu shrines which were 5oo years old such as Goddess Deva Mai located at Nomain, Jammu and two shrines dedicated to Baba Jitto, a devotee of Mata Vaishno Devi, located at Aghar Jitto, Jammu. There was a presentation by Prof. Mrs Poonam Choudhury of Jammu and Kashmir University on the various historical structures of Jammu and its unique architecture. The workshop concluded with felicitations by Mr. K. K. Gupta, Chief Education officer, Reasi District, Jammu.

Teachers training workshop was organized at the Global Indian International School, Noida on 25th July 2012 for 10 teachers. Ms. Purnima Datt, Director, HECS, welcomed the teachers and asked the teachers to briefly introduce themselves and share their favourite place in their city. Interestingly, we got a variety of answers such as parks and green spaces, markets etc. Introduction was followed by screening of INTACH film. After the film, the presentation on heritage of India was shown highlighting the divisions of heritage and also about the rich heritage of India. Another presentation on Heritage Education and its importance in the schools was shown to the teachers. Teachers were told how to bring in innovation in their way of teaching and incorporate interesting teaching aids to motivate heritage club members in their school. The workshop concluded with the explaining of resource materials including teachers training kit, Hands on heritage, passports etc and also about the Young INTACH website and its various activity and information tools which can be accessed by teachers and students for educational purposes.

The FILMIT India programme is a multi-cultural programme in which young students from the middle school are encouraged to make films on the culture of their city today. This is to increase their concern for Delhi’s natural and cultural heritage. On the 20th July, 2012 INTACH’s Heritage Education and Communication Services (HECS), New Delhi organized a workshop for developing of film content at INTACH. FILMIT is an exciting multi-cultural project which helps students to make short films on Delhi’s heritage and this is then exchanged with partner schools in UK and is funded by the Helen Hamlyn Trust of UK. The workshop was a success as 22 public and government schools of Delhi including Modern School Barakhamba, Springdales, St. Columba’s, Sanskriti School, Bluebells International, Navyug School Lakshmibai Nagar, Summerfields School, The Shri Ram School, The Pinnacle School, St. Mary’s, Banyan Tree School, R.P.V.V.Vasant Kunj, Tagore International Vasant Vihar, V.V.D.A.V participated in the event. We also welcomed three new schools including Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Sagar School and Modern School Vasant Vihar. Feisal Alkazi, an eminent theatre personality and educationist conducted the workshop. He had many interesting brainstorming sessions on the themes for the short films like the success stories on saving water, trees, animals; adopting a monument or a museum and heritage of my school. After this interactive session, another well known personality from the advertising world, Sanjeev Mehta discussed the pointers of a good film. He gave his inputs on the latest technology used in editing films. The workshop ended with a vote of thanks and words of encouragement by the Member Secretary, Dr. C.T. Misra, INTACH.

INTACH LADAKH CHAPTER has established Heritage clubs with students from different government and private schools in Leh who meet monthly for heritage activities. Till now they have organized a number of meetings with the students. The first meeting was held on 18th December 2011. This was a brain storming session.

In the second meet a film on Ladakh was screened, which was shot in 1974 when Ladakh was formally open for tourist. In the film they saw how Leh used to be. In the third meet they had a story telling session.

STORY TELLING LADAKH STYLE!

Ladakh had a very interesting tradition of storytelling in every house. When there was no modern entertaining technologies storytelling was one of the most entertaining source. Grandparents or parents, usually, grandparents of the family used to tell stories to the children every night around a fire. But as the time change this tradition is fading away. Keeping in view of the dying of this tradition, we have called a story teller

In the fourth meet the students were taken them to a Monastic festival called “Matho Nagrang:”It is celebrated in Matho Gompa. It is celebrated in the first month of the Tibetan Calendar which is record as Buddhist holy month in the Himalaya region. It is one of the famous monastic festivals in Ladakh. The festival is famous for the two oracles called sRong-tsan kar Mar, who originally came from Tibet and the mask dances. In the fifth meet they had called Shri Abdul Ghani Sheikh, scholar, who talked about Leh as centre of Central Asian Trade. After the talk students were taken to the Central Asian Museum which was inaugurated last year.

Part of an Awareness Campaign for Delhi Schools

INTACH HECS with the support of Delhi Chapter organized a workshop for schools on 11th April 2012.This workshop was a part of Delhi chapter’s project which is assisting the Government in the inscription of Delhi on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Cities. The project is supported by Delhi Tourism.

As a part of the process, Heritage Education and Communication Service (HECS) INTACH, is reaching out to the young citizens of Delhi, in schools across the city through awareness campaign. 33 teachers from 31 schools participated in the same. The presentation on the inscribing of Delhi on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Cities was made by Dr. Swapna Liddle (Co-Convenor, INTACH Delhi Chapter). The second half of the workshop was on Adopt a monument (follow-up).It began with a discussion on adopting a monument by Dr. K.K. Mohammad (Regional Director North Zone ASI).He inspired the teachers to care or heritage. He also highlighted on the excellent exhibits in the Children’s Replica museum in Siri Fort area. Mr. Ajay Kumar (Sr. Project Manager, Delhi Chapter) gave a presentation on Adopting a Monument and role of State Archaeology. This was followed by discussion on adopting a monument and caring for heritage by Mr. Naveen Piplani (Director, Centre for Conservation Training and Capacity Building INTACH). Schools gave presentations on the work done by them in arousing the curiosity of students for Delhi’s heritage. Through heritage walks, clean up drives of monuments and taking the support of the local community new dimensions were added to the learning of heritage in the curriculum and in co curricular activities by schools across Delhi.

School visits for Delhi A Heritage city campaign

As part of school awareness campaign, we had the opportunity to visit 35 prestigious private and public schools in Delhi and Gurgaon in the months of April- May 2012. The representatives from INTACH Delhi Chapter and HECS visited schools with the aim to spread the awareness about the rich culture of Delhi, the objectives of including Delhi on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage cities and also the significance of the World Heritage City Status. On the 27th April 2012, the launch of the programme was held in Bluebells School International, Kailash Colony, attended by Mr. G. G. Saxena, MD Delhi Tourism Transportation Development Corporation , Arshiya Sethi and Prof A G K Menon. Students were urged and motivated to spread the news and show their participation by participating in various competitions like painting, Essay writing, poster making, photography and film making. The topic for painting given to the students is ‘My Cultural Sunday, a day out with my family’. Students would also write essays on the topic ‘Delhi: Past and Present- what it means to me’, poster making competition is ‘protecting Delhi’s Heritage’photographing ‘People and their monuments through my photos’and short films on ‘Living amongst heritage- Yeh Dilli hai neri jaan’. As a part of the awareness, we urged every school to participate in the ‘signature campaign’, wherein every school principal and two student leaders signed and stamped a pledge card containing the name of their school.

A short teacher training workshop was organized at the Delhi office, Jasola Vihar on 11th June 2012 for the Global Indian International School, Indore .The workshop aimed at interacting with 10 teachers from Global Indian International School Indore through video conferencing. Ms. Purnima Datt, Director, HECS, welcomed the teachers and asked the teachers to briefly introduce themselves and share their favourite monumental site in their city. The highlight of the workshop was the presentation on Heritage Education and its importance in the schools. They were also motivated to set up a heritage club in their school.

Part of an Awareness Campaign for Delhi Schools

As India celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, INTACH with its network of heritage clubs and chapters all across the country did an enriching programme “Tagore at 150 – Power of the Pen” for schools to enhance their understanding of Tagore’s contribution to Indian culture.

INTACH received around 6000 entries from students of middle and senior school from 60 chapters. Entries were also received in regional languages including Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu and Kannada.70 regional winners were selected from all over the country. Further the final 10 national winners were also selected. For the 8 of the 10 national winners from Mumbai, Jamnagar, Chennai, Rampur, Delhi, Hazaribag,Chandigarh,Kolkata,Gurgaon Aizawl this was a journey of discovery of Tagore.

Trip To Santiniketan for national winners

The trip for national winners to Santiniketan was organized from 6-8th May, 2012 by the Santiniketan chapter. At Santiniketan on the first day the students were taken to Patha Bhavana a school run on the educational vision of Tagore. Here the students also met the Tagore Ambassadors. The Ambassadors from classes XI and XII of the school took the group for a short tour around the campus. The national winners interacted with the students there and observed their unique way of “away from the classroom” education. In the evening the winners experienced the making of the unique leather handicrafts and batik textiles at Amra Kutir.

On the 8th morning, which marked the end of the 150th birth anniversary celebration of Rabindranath Tagore according to the Hindu calendar called pochishe boisakh , everyone gathered early morning at Tagore’s glass temple in the Visva Bharati campus for a special upasana (prayer) led by the Vice Chancellor Prof Sushanta Dattagupta of Visva Bharati. The winners were interviewed by the different T.V. channels that were present there to cover the event after the upasana. A special award distribution ceremony was organized at “Lipika”, one of the auditoriums. It was presided by Vice Chancellor Prof Sushanta Dattagupta who was the chief guest. The welcome address was given by the convenor of INTACH chapter, Santiniketan Mr. Subir Adhikari followed by the details of the programme by Director HECS Ms Purnima Datt. After that, the certificates and trophies were distributed by the Vice Chancellor Prof Sushanta Dattagupta to the national as well as the regional winners. The Tagore Ambassadors were also felicitated. Lastly, there was music and dance performance by the students of Patha Bhavana which ended with the Ashram song. In the evening there was a dance Drama, “Chandalika” written by Tagore enacted by the senior students of Visva Bharati. The day ended with a delicious Bengali cuisine homely dinner at the Patha Bhavana mess along with the students and teachers. The trip had a lasting impression on the students.

CHAPTER DETAILS

More than 60 Chapters that have organized the programme and sent entries:.

Ajmer, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bhubaneshwar, Balaosore, Brajbhoomi, Chandigarh, Chandrapur, Cuttack,Dahanu,Darjeeling,Dharwad,Delhi, Gurgaon, Gwalior, Hazaribagh, Jabalpur, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Kadapa, Kodagu, Ladakh, Machlipatnam, Marwar-Jodhpur, Mayurbhanj,Mandla, Mehsana, Mizoram, Mohendragarh, Nagpur, Patiala, Pune, Raipur(Chhatisgarh), Rajpipla, Ranchi, Rohilkhand, Salem, Santiniketan, Sawai Madhopur, Shekhawati, Shivpuri, Sirohi, Thanjavur, Udaipur, Warangal,Entries also from Gangtok, Dehra Dun, Mumbai ,Jammu,Ahmedabad,East Godavari and Vishakapatnam

We received AROUND 6000 entries.

Thanjavur Chapter

“Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” was held at Little Scholars Matric. Hr. Sec. School, Thanjavur on 6th of January 2012. After the competition, a documentary film on Tagore by Satyajit Ray was screened. Apart from the prizes, books on Rabindranath Tagore were also distributed to create more awareness about him.

Marwar – Jodhpur Chapter

The painting and essay competition on Tagore was held on 3rd January, 2012 at Chokelao Palace, Mehrangarh Fort in collaboration with Mehrangarh Museum Trust. 100 students from10 schools participated in the event.

Mizoram Chapter

The “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” competition was held at two different places(Aizawl and Serkawn) with the main one being organized at Aizawl which was chaired by Pu Thanseia. An educative talk on Tagore was delivered by Ms. Margaret L. Pachuau, Asst. Prof. Mizoram University, enumerating the times of Tagore, his legacy and his relevance in the present times.

Dharwad Chapter

The “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” competition was held on 3oth januaty, 2012 at RCS High School. 52 children took part in it.

Raipur Chapter

The Raipur chapter organized the Power of the pen – Tagore at 150, painting and essay competition at Mayaram Surjan Smirti Lokayan, Rajbandha Maidan, Raipur, on 7th of January, 2012. Noted musician Dr. Kalyan Sen was invited as the chief guest.

Nagpur Chapter

The painting and essay competition, “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” was held on January 29, 2012 at Dharampeth Boys Highschool, Nagpur. A warm response was received as 79 students gathered to take part for the event.

Rajpipla Chapter

The “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” was organized by the Rajpipla chapter at Rajmata Uday Kunwerba hall, Shri Maharaja Rajendra Singh Vidhyalay on 21st December, 2011. Local and national media covered the event. Films on Tagore, which were specially obtained from Shantiniketan were showed.

Bhubaneshwar Chapter

The “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” was organized at Mother’s Public School on 14th January, 2012. Total 5 schools participated in the event. Sri A.B. Tripathy, Odisha state convener, INTACH was the guest speaker who threw light on Rabindranath Tagore’s life and work. The event received good media coverage.

Jabalpur Chapter

The “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” was held at Joy Senior Secondary School, Vijay Nagar, Jabalpur on December 20, 2011. 97 students participated in the event. It was covered by the local media. A lecture was delivered by Dr. Amritlal Begad, Retd. Director, Government school of Art and Painting, Jabalpur, who is an artist, author and more importantly a former student of Shantineketan.

Gwalior Chapter

To celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the Gwalior chapter organized the “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” competition on 20th January, 2012 at the sprawling campus of Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya. 12 schools participated in the event.

Cuttack Chapter

The Cuttack chapter organized the “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” at Cuttack Club on 15th January, 2012. Dr. Manoranjan Mohapatra, president, Cuttack Club, Sri Sahadev Patra, ex- prof of English and Sri Mahendra Mohapatra, a well known artist addressed the participants on the life of Tagore.

Shivpuri Chapter

The “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” was organized on 31st January, 2012 at Happy Days School. The convenor, Mr. Harsh Mittal delivered a talk on Rabindra Nath Tagore after the conclusion of the competition.

Sawai Madhopur Chapter

The “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” was held at First Step Public School on January 10, 2012. A total of 8 schools participated in the event.

Chandigarh Chapter

The Chandigarh Chapter organized the “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” at Strawberry Field School, Chandigarh. More than 200 children took part in the competition. Mrs. Prerna Puri, IAS, Muncipal Corporation, Chandigarh was the chief guest for the event.

Gurgaon Chapter

The “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” was held at Delhi Public School, Sec – 45, Gurgaon on 25th Jan 2012.Ms. Shovana Narayan was the chief guest for the event. 11 schools participated and the event was appreciated anda grand success.

Brij Bhoomi Chapter

The painting and essay competition on Rabindra Nath Tagore was held on January 24, 2012 at Sacre Heart Convent Hr. Sec. School, Dholi Piau, Mathura. 10 schools participated in the event. There was sufficient media coverage for the event.

Chandrapur Chapter

To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, a painting an essay competition, “Power of the Pen – Tagore at 150” was organized by the Chandrapur Chapter on 8th January 2012, at Hindi City High School, Chandrapur. There was a good media coverage for the event.

Aurangabad Chapter

INTACH Chapter Aurangabad organized an essay and painting competition on 19th January, 2012, to mark Rabindranath Tagore’s birth anniversary. The chapter invited two eminent speakers – Mr. Dhruba Das, Principal River Dale School, who studied in Shantinektan, wrote 26 books and Mr. Gautam Ganguly, Vice-President – International Conveyors Limited, Aurangabad and President – Bengal Association, Aurangabad, to give an inaugural talk on Rabindranath Tagore.

Delhi

The Power of the Pen programme was organized by HECS at the INTACH Delhi headquarters on 20th January 2012. The programme comprised an essay competition and a painting competition for students. 24 prestigious schools of Delhi, including some of the leading public and government schools, participated in the event and made it a success. On the occasion, the Chief Guest Prof Shirshendu Chakraborty spoke about the famous works of Tagore as well as his travels across India and the world. He also emphasized on the importance of remembering Tagore and celebrating his genius. The students were encouraged to participate in the competitions by the Chairman of INTACH, Lt. Gen. L.K. Gupta who spoke about the purpose of celebrating Tagore at 150.

Some Prize Winning Entries

As part of the above celebrations, INTACH East Godavari Chapter Chapter conducted an Essay Writing Competition on the Life of Viswakavi RabindraNath Tagore for Students of 7th, 8th, & 9th classes in about 40 Schools in and around Kakinada. The Prize Winners, INTACH members and some Teachers undertook a Heritage Walk from the Brahmo Samaj Mandir to the State Bank of India Heritage Museum. The Deputy Superintendent of Police Smt. Sai Sri flagged off the Walk. The Prize Winners from different schools were asked to bring Placards with innovative Slogans on our Culture & Heritage along with the name of their School on the top. The State Bank of India Kakinada Branch has a long history & culture of excellent service – a heritage to be proud of. The Branch was opened in 1864 as the first branch in South India and the third Branch in the entire country. Display shelves showing some of the old ledgers, Account Books, Leave letters, Bank Instructions, Old Currency Notes and copies of Accounts of celebrities and stalwarts of the Country were of great attraction to the students. The highlight of the display was the Ledger account of Viswakavi Ravindra Nath Tagore. The Chief Patron, Smt. Neetu Prasad I.A.S., Collector & District Magistrate East Godavari District was the Chief Guest and gave valuable message before distributing the Prizes.

A two day teacher training workshop on Heritage Awareness was held at Ambala on 28-29th February 2012. 45 teachers from 23 schools participated in the workshop. The methodology adopted was a practical and interactive one for the participants- slide shows by resource persons, talks, discussions and group activities. The workshop commenced with a welcome note by Brig Lamba, Convener, INTACH- Ambala Chapter. He urged to protect and preserve the heritage of Ambala, thereby emphasizing that listing work is of utmost importance. His thrust was to reach to the tender hearts by promoting heritage education in schools. Lt. Gen. Ranjit Singh gave an enriching presentation on heritage of Ambala followed by Prof. Anuradha Jindal’s presentation on Sadar Bazaar of Ambala. This was followed by an introduction about heritage given by Ms. Purnima Datt. The two-day workshop also included a heritage walk to the Navrang Rai Sarovar, Ambika Devi Mandir , St. Paul Church and Raja and Rani ka Talab for the participating teachers.

INTACH HECS in collaboration with the INTACH Goa Chapter organized the Filmit India Film Festival in Panjim, Goa, on 15th February 2012 at the Suna

Paranta Centre for the Arts. Seven renowned schools which has participated in the programme attended the festival. There were around 10 students and 1-2 teachers from each school who attended the programme. The Chief Guest for the event was Ms. Israel Sarvistha who has had 15 years of experience in the field of theatre.She has trained teachers in theatre therapy specially in Kabul Afghanistan She has also done a film the Secret Box and folk theatre called Yakshangana of Karnataka . The programme was also attended by Ms. Nilima, Programme Coordinator and Ms. Fatima Gracias, Co-Convener, Goa Chapter. The schools put up interesting performances including a song performance, mime and poetry recitation. Along with screening the films made by the children, snippets of their experiences while making the films were also depicted.

Ms Sarvistha lauded the students for their efforts and the pro-activism shown in saving snakes. She spoke on the privileges of doing creative activities which was not there in war torn countries like Afghanistan

INTACH HECS in collaboration with the INTACH Hyderabad Chapter organized the Filmit India Film Festival on 13th February 2012.Five renowned schools which have participated in the programme attended the festival. There were around 15 students and 2 teachers from each school who attended the programme. The programme was held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Public School. The Chief Guest for the event was Ms. Nandini Reddy a well-known film director of Telugu films. She had directed a very successful Telugu film and is now making another film. Ms Anuradha Reddy Convenor of Hyderabad Chapter, presided over the programme. The schools put up interesting performances including a song performance, dance performance, mime and poetry recitation. Along with screening the films made by the children, snippets of their experiences while making the films were also depicted. The programme was also attended by eminent journalists and media experts from the city including Indian Express, ETV and Telugu media and television channels.

The Chief Guest Nandini Reddy spoke to the students on how excelling in films was not easy especially if you were a female film director. She said that making films was like a game of squash as it was you who had to hone your skills like this game . She appreciated the role of films in creating awareness.

The Filmit Film festival was held in Delhi on 10th February, 2012 in India Islamic Cultural Centre Auditorium participated by 20 prestigious schools in Delhi. The programme began with an introduction speech by Ms. Purnima Datt, Director, HECS followed by a welcome address by Ms. Kavya Nirman, HECS. She welcomed the Chief Guest Ms. Sagarika Ghose Deputy Editor CNN IBN, and Guests of Honour Lady Helen Hamlyn, Head Helen Hamlyn Trust UK, Sanjana Kapoor, an eminent theatre personality, and Dr Shobita Punja, CEO National Culture Fund.

After welcoming the guests, there was session for presentations by students of participating schools sharing their experiences about the film making. Followed by which, best selected films made by Delhi schools were shown. Then our chief guests spoke to the students and encouraged the participants. Dr. Shobita Punja addressed the students and congratulated them for the efforts. We also had INTACH chairman, Lt. Gen. (Retd) L.K Gupta talking to the students. Our chief guests Ms. Sagarika Ghose and Ms. Sanjana Kapoor shared the experience of meeting the young film makers. We had the privilege of having Lady Helen Hamlyn with us to motivate and encourage the students. The festival concluded with the award ceremony presented by Ms. Moby Sara Zachariah, HECS and vote of thanks by Mr. Abhishek Das, HECS.

INTACH HECS in collaboration with the INTACH Chennai Chapter organized the Filmit India Film Festival on 6th February 2012.Nine renowned schools which has participated in the programme attended the festival. There were around 10 students and 2 teachers from each school who attended the programme. The programme was held at Vidya Mandir school.

The Chief Guest for the event was Dr S.Krishnaswamy, a well-known film maker who is a Padma Shri awardee and has made a number of documentary films including the well known film Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi. He was also Chairman of Jury f0r National awards.

Dr S. Suresh Convener, Tamil Nadu Chapter, presided over the programme. The schools put up interesting performances including a song performance and poetry recitation. Along with screening the films made by the children, snippets of their experiences while making the films were also depicted. The Chief Guest appreciated the films and encouraged the children to continue making films on heritage and culture and learn about their city’s heritage. He said he was impressed by the quality of the films.

The Filmit India Film Festival was held at Kolkata on 2nd February 2012 at Birla High School for Boys. Students and teachers from the participating schools – Loreto Day School, Sealdah; Modern High School for Girls; Lakshmipat Singhania Academy; DPS Megacity; The Heritage School,Birla High School – were present at the event. The programme was presided over by Mr. G.M. Kapur, Convener, INTACH West Bengal Chapter. Famous conservationist, Ms. Papiya who was responsible for coordinating the programme in Kolkata was also present.

The Chief Guest was Suman Mukherjee, a well known theatre and film personality from Calcutta along with his wife, Mallika Jalan who is a film maker and environmental activist in her own right. The Chief Guest inspired the students to continue making films and spoke of the effects of good visuals, editing and crisp music scores for the making of good films. The Guest of Honor Ms Jalan also spoke of having the unique experience of making films and the thought process which needed to go into making short films and advertisements.

HECS, INTACH, in collaboration with the INTACH Greater Mumbai Chapter organized a Teacher Training Workshop on17th January 2012. 25 enthusiastic teachers from 16 prestigious schools of Mumbai participated in the workshop. The workshop began with welcome speech by Ms. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Vice Chairman, INTACH and Managing Trustee and Honorary Director, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum. There was a presentation by Mr. Vikas Dilawari, Conservation Architect, on local heritage issues and on the architectural conservation of significant heritage buildings and structures of Mumbai. Ms. Purnima Datt, Director, HECS, welcomed the teachers and began the session with presentations on Heritage, Heritage Education and on HECS and its functions. The post lunch session of the workshop started with a walk in Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum. The walk leader, Varsha Reshamwala, Curtorial Associate of the Museum, explained to the teachers about the objects belonging to colonial and contemporary period displayed in the Museum. The Museum contains objects pottery, silver and bronze idols, models of communities came and settled in Bombay, models of boats used in harbour and soldiers of different regiments with their uniforms, models giving glimpse about the village life of Mumbai and also a relief map of Bombay of 1882. The museum displays works of contemporary artists as well. The walk leader concluded the walk in the library which contains books on History of Bombay, Arts, designs and layout of the structures and towns, Photography etc. The workshop concluded with group presentations by teachers followed by the distribution of participation certificates, badges and passports and Hands on Heritage to teachers by Ms. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta.

The Power of the Pen programme was organized by HECS at the INTACH Delhi headquarters on 20th January 2012. The programme comprised an essay competition and a painting competition for students. 24 prestigious schools of Delhi, including some of the leading public and government schools, participated in the event and made it a success. On the occasion, the Chief Guest spoke about the famous works of Tagore as well as his travels across India and the world. He also emphasized on the importance of remembering Tagore and celebrating his genius. The students were encouraged to participate in the competitions by the Chairman of INTACH, Lt. Gen. L.K. Gupta who spoke about the purpose of celebrating Tagore at 150. The pan-India competition is being held in more than 30 states across India.