‘Parampara’ celebrating the guru-shishya…

-S.P.Chopra

New Delhi: Parichay Foundation organised the third edition of ‘Parampara’ celebrating the guru-shishya tradition on Teacher’s Day, at Stein Auditorium, Indian Habitat Centre.

A ten-year-old philanthropic organization, Parichay Foundation has been engaged in bringing about economic and social upliftment for underprivileged in urban and rural slums of Odisha and Delhi, particularly working towards women empowerment. That apart, Parichay has also been consistently making efforts to promote Indian art and culture.In sync with its objective to preserve Indian art and culture, ‘Parampara’ gave a befitting tribute to the age-old teacher-disciple tradition by showcasing a beautiful Odissiperformance by Padmashree Guru SmtAruna Mohanty and her disciples.

The event also saw three eminent Odia women personalities being felicitated for having scripted success stories in their own fields, while also inspiring many others, emerging as a ‘guru’ in their respective fields. The awardees included Meera Parida,Chairman, All Odisha Third Gender Welfare Trust, Bhubaneswar, who has been at the forefront in mobilizing the LGBT community to the mainstream of the society; Mrs. Rashmi Mohapatra, Founder Patron, designer fashion house RAAS, who has been working in close quarters with weavers from across Odisha, guiding them towards a better life laced with success and prosperity by promoting Odisha handloom and LopaPriyadarshini, a corporate management professional and corporate trainer with 20 years of experience, who has been training students of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs on Corporate Social Responsibility.

Member of Parliament, senior BJP leader and eminent lawyer Meenakshi Lekhi attended the event as the chief guest. While praising Parichay for the good work it has been doing, she also emphasised on the importance of teachers in our lives. “Teachers aren’t just those who teach us, anyone who inspires us is a teacher,” she said.

Among others, Kathak guru PadmashreeShovana Narayan, Mohiniyattam exponent Padmashree Bharati Shivaji, Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr.SabitSubasic, former Indian diplomat Lalit Mansingh, senior advocate Supreme Court Mukul Verma, eminent Odissi dancer Sharon Lowen, Founder, KIIT and KISS Dr.AchyutaSamanta and MP, Bhubaneswar Dr. Prasanna Kumar Patasani attended.

Talking about the event, Founder, ParichayRosalinPatasani Mishra said, “The ‘Parampara’ event revolves around the guru-shishya tradition and celebrates the beauty of this relationship. And, that is the reason why we took the initiative to felicitate three gurus on this occasion while also taking to the roots of our Indian culture system, the medium of dance, to showcase this teacher-disciple tradition. I am really happy that SmtAruna Mohanty and her disciples graced the Parampara platform.”

She further added, “Parichayorganises a few signature fund-raising events every year and ‘Parampara’ is dedicated to the guru-shishya tradition and so we observed it on Teachers’ Day. As the founder of Parichay, my only concern is to see more girls and women getting empowered in the days to come through the medium of education for which the foundation needs not just funds, but also the support of all our well-wishers to help us continue our relentless work with greater dedication.”