New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in collaboration with UNESCO celebrated ‘International Mother Language Day’ on the theme of the “Multi – Lingual Education: A Necessity to Transform Education” in Samvet auditorium of IGNCA. Renowned poet Ashok Chakradhar said that there is hope in the new generation and he believes that the new generation will fill the void present in language and culture. The event was presided over by Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA. The other guests present on the occasion were Vidushi Sharma, Chandra Gosai, Motia Sharma, Santosh Khanna and Dr. Yati Sharma.

On this occasion Dr. Yati Sharma’s novel ‘Aadhi Raat Ki Neend’ and Mrs. Vidushi Sharma’s edited multilingual poetry collection ‘Akhand Bharat: Yugdrashta’ was also released. It would be noteworthy in this context that the later book holds ‘Harvard World Record London’. Shri Ashok Chakradhar quoting one of his poems in a sarcastic tone said that the generation before freedom had ‘Virtue’. However, with time the values of the generations changed and it reached the point of ‘zero’ or nothing. He further reiterated in this context that eventually it will be the generation of ‘nothing’ which shall fill colour in ‘zero’ therefore there is no need to be disappointed by the new generation. In the end he concluded by saying that “we should not forget that zero is our gift to the world and the new generation will add colours to the zero”.

Addressing the audience on the occasion Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi stressed on the importance of ‘Mother Tongue’. Subsequently he also expressed concern over the contemporary scenario and said that in the changing environment and times even the mothers are not giving their language to their children. Apparently many languages of the country went extinct. He further added that in the current times and age the generation is changing fast and it is the responsibility of the people of the country to keep the coming generations connected with their language and culture. Dr. Sachidanand Joshi also said that “language creates continuity with the culture and if one is not exposed well to the language one would not evolve holistically”. The event was also addressed by Dr. Yati Sharma and Vidushi Sharma. In the second session of the event, multilingual poetry recitation was presented which was relished by the audience.