India is reaching out to students in Austria. Embassy of India in Vienna organized an India Day at Mary Ward Schule in St. Poelten in partnership with the City of St. Poelten and State of Lower Austria, in which students were introduced to India – it’s richness, its diversity, its values and it’s principles, it’s society and it’s culture, as part of their learning about India !The event took place as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Celebrations in Austria. During the India Day more than 150 students in the age group of 15-18, tasted Indian food, learnt about the ancient practice of Yoga, took part in Kathak and Bharatanatyam dancing, designed and decorated Henna patterns on each other, immersed themselves in Tabla and Sitar classes, rejuvenated themselves with Kho-Kho and Kabaddi games, & learnt about four diverse Indian languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Bengali, all in the form of day long workshops. The special attraction was our Pichwai Painting ( hailing from the holy town of Nathwada, Rajasthan) workshop that was specially conducted through online mode from India. It attracted more than 150 young and active art learners together to co-create with master artists from India. All were ‘co-creative’ sessions in its true sense! Watching students smiling throughout the sessions, appreciating their spontaneous artwork, and witnessing the cultural exchange in motion was no less than a dream coming true for the Embassy and its officials. Undoubtedly, the sessions were a huge hit! We saw a participation of 150 students throughout the day. Students will also watch the Movie ‘Mary Kom’ – about the story of the boxing stalwart – a remarkable story of women empowerment in India.
India is a vast, diverse country with a rich cultural heritage. The fantastic India Day tried to introduce various facets of this richness, across it’s length and breadth – from Rajasthan, to Bengal, from Uttar Pradesh to Kerala and many more ! The India Day aims to raise awareness, foster understanding and create lasting cultural linkages about India in the minds of the young Austrian students- so that they can become true people Ambassadors of India in Austria. Similar Outreach events are being planned across all the 9 Provinces of Austria in the coming one year, with Vienna having kicked off the series on the 22nd of April, 2022. We are happy to share that event in Graz will be the third such in this series of Partnership Days.
Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
