Now, New Delhi based Odia parents need not fret about teaching their mother tongue to their kids. Coming to their aid is a forum named ‘The Intellects’ comprising of like-minded people who aim to teach Odia language to children based in the city.
The year old forum started an initiative named ‘Asa sikhiba amari bhasha’, an initiative under which classes are conducted every Sunday for two hours. Students are given easy assignments as homework and a brief revision session takes place before the commencement of the next class. They are also provided student friendly study materials. Presently classes are being held at Mehrauli, a place in Delhi that has considerable Odia population. The initiative is gradually gaining momentum with a total of 20 students attending the classes at present. The members of the organisation do not any charge any tuition fee.
Arranging interactions of students with Odia artistes to provide them a better understanding of the cultural roots are also part of the larger scheme. The group is looking for other venues for conducting classes in different corners of the national capital. Once, their initiative manages to spread its wing in Delhi, they also aim to start similar projects in other cities.
Debendra Rout, the chairman of the group, is an academician and believes that Odia kids studying in different public and private schools of Delhi are not aware of their own history and culture. He said, ‘’Children who have been staying here since birth have very little knowledge of their heritage, art and culture. Moreover, most of them don’t know how to read and write in their own mother tongue. They are completely aloof of our rich literature. Not knowing their own language can create several problems. A generation later, how will they call themselves Odia?’’ questioned Rout. The most powerful gift a parent can give the child is to pass the language and cultural tradition on to the children, he added.
The initiative was announced and promoted during a weeklong religious gathering in third week of March at Jagannath Temple in Hauz Khas. Parents are quite pleased with the classes. ‘’Though we always wanted our son to learn Odia, with mounting pressure of academics and co curricular activities, we thought it would be an additional burden on him. But just two hours in a week is fine for us,’’ said a parent.
To make the students aware about the culture, the institution also celebrated Raja Festival in Delhi. Poda Pitha competition and other events were organised on the occasion.
Many parents from different parts of Delhi have shown interest to open a branch in their locality.
The Intellect has six members from different walks of life.