Until large gatherings become acceptable, we will again celebrate the Hindu Heritage Day in an ONLINE format on May 21st, 2022 starting at 4 PM. The program will have a medley of memorable dance and music group performances and finalists from the Storytelling Contest for Youth.

This year, dance and music performers are asked to relate to the general theme of Shakti, the divine strength in all of us which helps us develop great qualities and virtues or depicts characters symbolizing strength (be it strength of character such as Raja Harishchandra, Prahlad or physical strength such as Rama, Durga).  Last year, dances featured adult as well as youth groups.  And what a difference costumes, music and talent make!  Our everyday kids and family members get transformed into celestial dancers, village folks from rural Rajasthan or Gujarat or Kerala or characters from epics.  It all comes from the magic of performing arts.  Similarly, music entries came from students of music schools as well as extremely talented amateur groups.

For storytelling contest, a new category "Living in Dharma" has been added this year for teenagers who desire to handle a more complex topic.  The "story" is to be submitted via a video under 5 minutes and should relate to ANY topic from Hindu heritage.  Last year's entries had a wonderful variety.  We heard stories of Rama, Sabari, Prahlad, Yashoda and Krishna, King Shibi of Mahabharata, Narada, Rani Laxmibai, Panchtantra, value of honesty, Vamana and Bali, Prithviraj Chauhan, Manthara and Ayurveda practices to name a few.  Each youth's style was unique.  Some dressed up like the character they were depicting.  Some used plain background while others used fancy scenes, still others used family puja altars. A sister-brother team created a puppet show with hand made paper cuttings.  But all the entries were charming and entertaining.  While they were great collaborative projects between adults (read camera person) and youth, they helped the youth develop presentation skills.  Furthermore, the values they imbibed from the stories would serve them throughout their lives.  We can look forward to beautiful performances this year also.  Aspiring participants can find all the details including prizes offered by the contest at https://boston.vhp-america.org/hhd22/contest

USEFUL LINKS:

To Attend the program (free), register at: https://hhd2022.Eventbrite.com

To submit your entry for dance/music program, register at: https://forms.gle/GfFM5DNmMi9yc3k46   (for further info send email to jasthana@hotmail.com )

To register for the storytelling contest, register at: https://forms.gle/Gb5FHaQZErXUvQ799 (for further info, send email to bgarg@ieee.org)

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