International Hindi Day celebrated in Kazakhstan

ASTANA - The growing bilateral relations between India and Kazakhstan make it important for this Central Asian republic to prepare and create a cadre of Indologists who are well versed in Indian languages, history, politics, economy, thoughts and ideas, the Indian envoy here has said.

Speaking at the International Hindi Day celebrations at the Al Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty Wednesday, Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar offered all possible support to the university for sending a larger number of students and teachers to India for higher studies in subjects and disciplines related to India.

He also announced that modern equipment, including an LCD TV set, a music system, and a DVD player, would be gifted to the university’s India Study Centre to facilitate the study of Hindi and other Indian subjects.

The university is one of the most renowned in Kazakhstan, having been established 75 years ago. It started regular Hindi classes in 1998. The Indian embassy assists the university by providing books and audio-visual material for promoting the study of Hindi as well as Indian history, culture, politics and philosophy.

Several students and teachers are sent by the embassy every year to India for obtaining higher qualifications in subjects relating to India. Several scholarships at the under-graduate, post-graduate and doctoral levels are also awarded to teachers and students of the university.

Its India Study Centre was established in 2000 to provide a fillip to study of India and Indian history, politics and economy, among other subjects.

Vice Rector Murat Orunkhanov, on behalf of Rector Academic Bakhytzhan Zhumagulov, presented the Medal of 75 years of the University to Sajjanhar for his significant contribution to strengthening relations between India and Kazakhstan in the area of education.

The formal speeches were followed by recitation of poems and songs in Hindi by several students of the university. Dance items on popular Hindi songs were also presented by the students.

The programme ended with an Antakshari competition between two university teams, in which popular and well-known Hindi songs were sung.

The celebration of Hindi Day helped to focus on the vibrant and dynamic relations between the two countries in the area of study of Hindi and other Indian subjects, an Indian embassy statement said.

It also helped to identify new possibilities and directions for further promoting cooperation between the Al Farabi Kazakh National University and Indian educational institutions and universities, the statement added.