“I am painting Spider-Man,” mentioned eight-year-old Ayansh Garg, a student of The Shriram Millennium School, Noida, as he moved his brush on an egg to create vertical strokes in red and black. Anarkali Sachdeva (10) from Lycée Français International de Delhi, Aurangzeb Road, who sat at the same table as Garg, decided to create a floral pattern on an egg.
Garg and Sachdeva, along with other children from Delhi-NCR, were at the Easter workshop organised at The Imperial, Janpath, on Friday. The workshop, which was in collaboration with the Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Centre, also hosted a few children from TARA Homes—a South Delhi-based non-profit organisation that works to protect, empower, and educate children from economically-stressed backgrounds.
Talking about this initiative, Vijay Wanchoo, Senior EVP and General Manager, The Imperial, shared, “We have been celebrating all major festivals. We always celebrate Easter at the hotel but this time, it is with a difference. We thought of bringing in children and letting them paint eggshells, which is a tradition of Easter. It is interesting because a lot of people from the city are now coming in, which is a positive sign. It is great to see the kids excited.”
An hour of art
This fun workshop offered children a chance to know more about the festival while engaging in enjoyable yet educational activities inspired from Easter traditions. Dr Mariann Erdő, Director, Hungarian Cultural Centre, Delhi, addressed this point by saying, “Easter is the next big religious feast in Hungary after Christmas. There are a lot of traditions such as painting eggs and baking bread. On Easter Monday, boys sprinkle water or perfume on girls and girls give painted eggs to them…. We are happy to have kids from Indian schools and TARA Homes.”
The event commenced with an hour-long Easter egg painting session wherein children let their creativity flow free as they created arty designs on eggshells. A team of artists from Gallery Sree Arts, Gurugram, were at the venue to help the children paint. The facilitators prompted the kids to experiment and try out new designs. “We are painting Easter eggs today and this is fun. I started out with the first two colours I saw, and now I will think of what to paint next,” shared Abhimanyu Mathur (13), a student of Kunskapsskolan International, Gurugram
Joy doubled in the hall when Bollywood actor Boman Irani visited the workshop and spent some time with the kids. Irani spoke to the children and also posed at the selfie booth installed at the venue.
Relishing the best flavours
The culinary team headed by Executive Chef, Prem Kumar Pogakula, had also planned a live cooking session. Here, children prepared cookies and learnt a few easy and enjoyable Hungarian recipes. The children first decorated pre-baked Ischler cookies with chocolate, nuts, jam, and candies, and then experimented with Hungarian Indiáner cakes. They were assisted by the staff. “I tried this for the time and I enjoyed it. I took the biscuits and added a layer of chocolate and jam between them, and then finally decorated it with the cookies,” explained 11-year-old Dinesh Verma from TARA Homes. “I have baked in the past but I have never made cookies like this and they turned out really tasty,” added Mehr Gambhir (14) from Step By Step School, Noida.
It’s a happy ending
The children who participated in this workshop were given a bag of goodies and a certificate of participation. The event concluded on a fun note as Wanchoo and Erdő broke two massive Easter eggs that were filled with candies. As soon as the eggs touched the surface, children screamed with joy and sprung to collect the candies scattered on the table. “I have never done anything like this before. I loved the egg painting activity and I also learnt a lot about the festival. It was great,” concluded Sana Sukheja (13) from The Shriram Millennium School, Noida.