BY PURVI RADIA | NT NETWORK
Very soon Jaipur, the pink city of India, is going to turn colourful for the national youth festival, set to be held from January 8 to 12, 2011. States from across the nation including union territories will get into the festive mood both in the competitive and non-competitive sections at the festival.
This festival has been taking place for 10 years now, the main aim of the festival being to promote talent among the youth and to strengthen national integration. It was conceived in 1995 by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangatam with the help of the ministry of youth affairs. Way back then in the same year the first national youth festival was held in Bhopal from January 12 to 16 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
Every state will depict its cultural heritage at a national level at this festival, showcasing the nation’s unity in diversity. For Goans, the festival is a gateway of excellence. “They are talented. However, tied up with various academic, professional or personal commitments, they are unable to be part of the selection trials. Hence, the state loses the cream of the participants. If the youth could find more time and dedicate themselves to this six-day event we could do wonders,” says the district youth co-ordinator for Nehru Yuva Kendra, South Goa, Mr Sirish Lawande.
In Goa, the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs, Campal will be organising the prestigious State Level Youth Festival 2010 to select talented youth to participate in the National Youth Festival 2011. The North District Level Youth Festival will be held at Gomantak Maratha Samaj Hall, Panaji on September 30 and October 1 and South District Youth Festival will be held at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on October 7 and 8. Winners of the first three positions in each district will be selected to participate at the state level competitions to be held at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on October 12, 13 and 14. The competitions will be held in the following items folk dance, folk song, classical vocal (Hindustani), sitar, tabla, harmonium (light), guitar, bhartnatyam, kathak, elocution (English/Hindi) and one-act play (English/Hindi).
Each of these items is given a maximum time limit. Participants will be judged on aspects such as their dress, style, voice, song, steps and their proficiency in the language.
In addition to these there will be other competitions like photography and painting while the non-competitive categories such as kavi samelan, folk dances, and folk songs are organised as part of the entertainment programme to be held during the festival.
At this festival, there will also be a display of handicrafts at the Yuva Kriti exhibition. Mr Lawande informs, “The ministry of youth affairs has funded 75 per cent and the remaining 25 per cent is to be borne by the host state.”
To tone down the tense environment, participants can take part in adventure activities such as a balloon rides and rock climbing. Another interesting experience is the food festival, which will showcase an assortment of dishes from all over the country.
A youth convention will be held where ex-state youth award winners and ex-nation youth award winners along with prominent people who have excelled in their fields will be invited to speak on the future course of action and youth policies.
The evenings will have celebrities mingling with the contestants. For Goan participants, it will be an opportunity to showcase Goa’s culture. One of the participants in the folk song category, Avinash Costa, after winning the second position at the state level festival in Mando singing last year, who had the opportunity to participate at the national level shares his views: “It was a very good experience. We got to interact with different people.” He further informs, “We sang ‘Poilech nodrek mog’ dressed in traditional attires and gave our best to the performance.”
This song was composed by Avinash itself. Avinash is a physical education teacher teaching at St Pius X high school, Orlim and has performed the mando along with his students at the annual gathering. Having received a good response, he decided to participate in the state festival.
It is time to get on with the festive spirit and experience diverse cultures. The registration forms for the festival are available till September 30 from the website www.dsya.goa.gov.in.
