Vomedh celebrates mother tongue day.

Vomedh a renowned socio cultural organization of JK UT celebrated mother tongue day in a
day long multi faceted and entertaining program at Tagore Hall Srinagar. The event was
attended by a large audience comprising people across age groups who wholeheartedly
enjoyed the day long cultural extravaganza.

“21st Feb is celebrated as mother tongue day and Vomedh organised this cultural
extravaganza on 20th Feb. Our plan to celebrate mother tongue day in the valley generated
a lot of interest and curiosity. We announced a contest for kids where they had to send their
video recorded performances to us in Kashmiri. There was an overwhelming response and
we got over 100 entries. We also received requests to keep the final program on a Sunday
so that maximum people can participate”, informed Manzoor Ahmad Mir, a renowned
theatrist, jury of the contest and member of organizing team.

“Project Pagah is one of its kind initiatives for preservation and promotion of Kashmiri
language. Under project Pagah we plan to popularize the language in day to day life.
Kashmiri being our mother tongue should be our first language across all age groups. It
should be spoken, heard and seen everywhere. Why should it remain confined to certain
age groups and certain demographics. It should grow on all counts. Anything that is not
growing is gradually dying. We want to work for a better tomorrow of Kashmiri language and
that’s why we named this project ‘Pagah’ which means tomorrow in Kashmiri”, explained
Rakesh Roshan Bhat; convener of Pagah, renowned playwright and mentor of Vomedh.

The program started with a welcome dance performance of Rouf by Shagufta and team. It
was followed by a welcome address from Rakesh Roshan Bhat who talked about why
Vomedh is inspired and motivated to work towards the preservation and promotion of
Kashmiri Language. He formally launched project Pagah and also talked about the objectives
and plans under project Pagah. The selected top performers from the Koshur contest for
children were felicitated. They were presented certificates and cash prizes.

A thought-provoking interactive panel discussion titled Kath t’ kalam which was moderated by
eminent literary figure Arvind Shah. Prominent personalities from their respective fields; viz –
Ayaz Arif, Manzoor Ahmad Mir, Shaad Ramzan and Shaista Ahmad were part of panel
discussion. The panelists talked about how preservation of language needs to start from
home and from early childhood. The mother tongue needs to be the first language. They also
talked about encouraging and popularising mother tongue besides schools in electronic and
social media as well. They also discussed how language lends identity to the culture and                                    how significant culture is to preserve the ethnicity. Arvind Shah effectively moderated the
discussion and summarised the key points in the end. Panelists also answered the questions
of the audience promptly.

The Kashmiri stand up acts by very popular social media creators Behzaad Malla and Anil
Chingari enthralled the audience. They were also felicitated on the occasion for choosing
Kashmiri language to showcase their talent and thereby helping in making Kashmiri popular
amongst the youth.

In the second half, audiences were treated to a spellbinding musical performance by
renowned singer Gulzar Ahmad Ganai and team and a rib tickling comedy play in Kashmiri
called Gaad Bateh. Vinay Pandita, Rahul Kilam, King C Bharti, Puneet Bali, Pummy Zutshi
and Bharti Kaul performed in the play. Gaad Bateh has been written by Rakesh Roshan Bhat
and directed by Rohit Bhat

The maiden PAGAH event also marked the announcement of annual PAGAH awards for
contribution in promoting Kashmiri language and literature. The PAGAH awards for the year
2022 were awarded to two prominent literary figures who have worked extensively in the field
of Literature and Kashmiri language. The awardees were Arvind Shah and Shaad Ramzan.

Arvind Shah is an accomplished writer, poet and translator and Shaad Ramzan is a well-
known poet and critic. Manzoor Ahmad Mir presented the vote of thanks.

“This is a great start to a long journey together. I hope we can synergize all the efforts and
such kind of initiatives can act as catalyst and force multiplier. We are very happy with the
kind of participation we saw and the support we got from people in general. I want to express
gratitude to everyone and hope we will continue to get similar support in future too”, said
Rohit Bhat, the organiser and president of Vomedh

Regards

Bharti Kaul
Vice President Vomedh