Pooja Premchandran

NEW YORK (TIP)New York’s Queens College dedicated academic year 2012 to India, by officially launching ‘Year of India’ at an event held at the Consulate General of India last week. The program was launched in the presence of Consulate General Prabhu Dayal and it went on to exhibit the rich cultural heritage India is renowned for. Queens College President Mr. James Muyskens presided over the event by providing a description of what the events throughout the year will comprise of.

The student body representatives of Queens College present at the event said that it is an honor to have India recognized as the country of the Year of India. Student Body representative Sumit Singh explains, “The focus is going to not just be on Indian culture, so people will be more aware of other factors of India such as economy, politics, films, etc. which will help them in understanding our culture better. ”

Consulate General Mr. Parbhu Dayal also expressed his enthusiasm in having India as the primary focus at Queens College this year. “We are very honored that India has been given this very important recognition. As you know, Indo-US relations are growing by leaps and bounds. And the gesture of Queens College to recognize this year as ‘Year of India’ is probably also an affirmation of the strength of this relation,” said Mr. Dayal.

Recognizing a country each year is a tradition and an important part of the academic calendar at Queens College. The college recognized China in 2010 and Turkey in 2012. Mr. Muyskens told The Indian Panorama that the campus unanimously chose India as the country to focus in 2012. “We asked the campus several years back which countries do we have expertise in at the campus, which country will the students and others would like to focus on and study.

Selecting a country meant, we would focus that year on its religion, politics, history and the current world we live in. And so they all selected India. The next year we have Brazil the South Africa but I am especially excited about India. I think there is no place more exciting than India,” said Mr. Muyskens.

Mr. Muyskens also stressed on the importance of holding such events especially today’s scenario. “It is incredibly important to have such events. The borough of Queens is a very diverse borough. We have people from all over the world. And that is the future. We must have a genuine understanding of all countries and not just be shallow. To really understand each country in depth we need events like this.”

Mr. Dayal also affirmed this thought by saying, “I think it is very important to hold such events because they reach out to young people. And our youth is the torchbearer for the future. And we feel that it is extremely important that a college that is as highly ranked as Queens College has taken this unique step to recognize this year as the ‘Year of India’.”

To represent the cultural heritage and diversity of India, the program had the famous Odissi dancer Bani Ray, perform before her guests. The program concluded with an exhilarating display of Hindustani Carnatic music leaving the audience astounded.

Year of India comprises of many events that resonate culture, traditions, politics, films, economy and sports of India. These programs aim to explore India and its values as well as map its influence in South Asia. The events will also plans to strengthen ties with the United States by enabling student and faculty exchanges between the two countries. It also will provide a massive audience and immense recognition to the best talents of India and to those Indians making world class contribution. The event at the Consulate General was a preview for the audience to what they can expect this year. The energy and enthusiasm of the participants was reciprocated by the audience with a standing ovation for the Queens College team, for its excellent efforts.