BHUBANESWAR: Children’s Day was celebrated in various schools and colleges of the capital amid huge fervor Wednesday. The 17th edition of Anjali National Children and Youth Festival organised by Swabhiman, a State Disability Information And Resource Center, stood out among all other events.
“We Are One” group from Delhi, awarded by the President of India in the House of Commons in London and a Guinness book of world record holder, performed on wheelchairs and mesmerized the audience on the occasion. An inclusive dance performance choreographed by Saswat Joshi was performed by differently-abled girls. An inclusive music performance choreographed by Aviram Nanda involving visually impaired youth, autistic children and non-disabled artists was a huge success too.
The participants of the event are from Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana and Tamil Nadu. Students and teachers from various schools of India also participated in the camp. The primary participants are in the age group of 8 to 18 years.
The children’s festival will conclude November 18. Differently-abled children will learn various skills like photography, terracotta, pottery, art and, craft, fine arts, theatre, music and dance.
“We organise this event every year for differently abled children. Besides the usual celebration, we are also educating, entertaining and inspiring the young minds from across India. The theme of this year’s celebration is Sashakt (empowerment),”said Ajaya Pattnaik.
“Dancing knows no language. Differently-abled children can perform just by feeling the rhythm of songs through vibration. We are organising various dance workshops, where we are training students for the events. It’s a great privilege to be a part of Anjali Children’s Festival due to its social cause,” said Saswat Joshi, an international classical dancer.
Basant kumar Mahapatra said, “Anjali Festival attempts to bridge the gap between the differently-abled and normal children. We are trying to create a sense of equality among all children.”