TT celebrates World Hindi Day

INDIA’s High Commission to TT Arun Kumar Sahu has offered assistance to local schools interested in teaching Hindi.

Sahu made the offer on Saturday when the commission hosted World Hindi Day celebrations at the Southern Academy for Performing Arts, San Fernando, as part of the continued effort to promote Hindi as an important language of the world.

World Hindi Day is celebrated every year on January 10, and Indian embassies around the world organise special programmes in collaboration with various government and non-government institutions.

In TT, the event was organised in collaboration with the Mahatma Ghandi Institute for Cultural Co-Operation and the Hindi Nidhi Foundation.

Speaking at the celebration was former prime minister Basdeo Panday, president of the TT Hindi Foundation Chanka Seeterram, political leader of the Congress of the People Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan and Hindi scholarship alumni and deputy mayor of San Fernando, Dr Ferri Hosein.

Sahu also invited suggestions from attendees to further strengthen the high commission’s current Hindi teaching programme.

The first World Hindi Conference was held in Nagpur on January 10, 1975, where 122 delegates from 30 countries participated in the program.

Hindi is the fifth most spoken language in the world and several Hindi words can be found in the Oxford Dictionary including 'Bada Din', (big day) 'Acha', (Good) 'Bacha' (Child) and 'Surya Namaskar' in 2017. The High Commission said this represents the importance and acceptance of Hindi.