By Ashok Ojha

NEW YORK, NY (TIP): As hundreds of Hindi enthusiasts gathered on a chilled Saturday morning to celebrate the International Hindi Day at the Consulate General of India in New York, there were a few important guests the Consul General allowed special hearing. It was a matter of promoting higher education in learning that required special attention of the Indian Diplomat, himself a great listener.

Professor Janis Jensen, director of STARTALK projects at Kean University was anxious about the quality of teachers, especially for teaching a critical language, Hindi. “There is a great need to build capacity for the teaching of Hindi in the USA where most Hindi teachers lack formal teacher’s training to teach Hindi to 21st century digital learners”, said Jensen, who appealed the consul General and the Indian community to support the sustainability of the Masters’ Program in Hindi pedagogy at Kean University, the only teacher preparation program aimed at preparing Hindi teachers for teaching in schools or preparing for doctoral programs.

Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty told Jensen that he would extend all possible support to keep her program running. He repeated this resolve before the gathering of community folks, who were attending the Hindi Day event that it was time to supplement our talk to support Hindi to really act by supporting meaningful teaching and learning programs outside of India. Chakravorty patiently listened to the other speaker Dr. Jennifer Eddy, who made a presentation about NYS Teacher Certification for Hindi 7-12 grades. She emphasized that the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Critical Languages Education is a program of initial and professional certification combined into a 39-credit master’s program that was designed for teacher candidates who will be responsible for designing their new language program. Professor Eddy said that the program was offered at Queens College located amidst the residential hub of people of Indian origin and was ideal for those interested in teaching Hindi. Chakravorty promised the support of Government of India for promoting Hindi outside of India.

The event proved to be very special for parents who left home as early as 6 am in order to reach the Consulate premises in time. “It was a rare occasion for students to showcase their skills in Hindi speaking at the Consulate”, said Anil Dadheech, whose daughter Ria, a millennium kid who is very savvy using online tools while learning Hindi and practicing Indian culture. Ria performed a ‘Ghumar’ dance and recited the popular ‘Jhansi ki Rani’ poem. Other students representing Educators Society for the Heritage of India, Hindi USA and Hindi Sangam Foundation STARTALK program expressed a great sense of pride and self-confidence as the presented their song and dance items. Nehal, a two-time Sangam Franklin STARTLK student reflected her classroom learning in real life as she summarizes with reasons her favorite destinations to visit in India. “I learned at STARTALK program what are the important places I must see and why? It inspired me to think and express my own list of favorite places”, Nehal articulated. “Our goal at STARTALK programs is to prepare our students innovate and use their classroom learning into expressing their viewpoints in real life situations. That is why presentations at events like this become so important. It offers our students real life experience to interact with native speakers of Hindi”, said Mamta Tripathi, who serves as the lead instructor at Hindi programs in Franklin, Marlboro and Montgomery Townships.

Consul General Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty distributed certificate to all participating students who came from various places in the New York Metro area. The participating students and accompanying teachers represented many schools including those run by Hindi Sangam Foundation, Educators Society of India, Yuva Hindi Sansthan and Hindi USA. Ashok Ojha, coordinator of the event elaborated upon his efforts to work together with language experts, officials and the Consulate for strengthening the forum of Hindi in USA. He thanked the Consul General for his support in promoting Hindi and helping to organize the Fifth International Hindi Conference in September 2018. Teachers and students led by Mamta Mamta Kandpal Tripathi, Akila Sekhar, Mainu Maino Murmu and Hema Ojha presented spectacular performance. HSF Trustee and Vice-Chairperson Purnima Desai Desai delivered a vote of thanks.