General Rodrigues inaugurates Chandigarh Carnival
Chandigarh: imaginatively and artistically structured mega event involving huge effort & committed endeavour, the Chandigarh Carnival took off with the inaugural ceremony by the Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, General (Retd.) Dr. S.F. Rodrigues, PVSM VSM, amidst utmost fun, frolic and merriment at Leisure Valley, here today. Releasing of balloons, beating of drums, performances of Punjabi Giddhas, Bhangra, dances of different states and display of distinctive regional art forms about 150 artists of NZCC, cultural peasantry, festive feasting and artistic creative activities, marked the occasion.
The annual magnificent show of colourful tableaus and art works attracted huge crowds including foreign tourists as well as locals, with the message of working together in partnership and collectively, for a good cause of the art loving society at large.
Accompanied by Mrs. Jean Rodrigues, the Administrator went round the aesthetically and beautifully decorated stalls put up by various organizations, aiming to educate the people and creating general awareness of different isues of societal interests. The artistic endeavours, handicrafts, tourism related activities, traffic management, depiction of Indian culture & heritage through different modes, dominates the scene. He flagged off the colourful procession of beautifully structured floats accompanying the young artists & children attired in regional costumes. The Carnival parade will go around the city beautiful with colourful tableaus of different cultures by schools and colleges, especially Rock Garden sculptures and funny floats by the Chandigarh College of Arts. The participants have been provided with special Carnival Caps.
General and Mrs. Jean Rodrigues during their visit to various stalls, interacted with the organizers and suggested the need to be innovative in their approach and continue to utilize their service oriented activities for the benefit of people. They spent considerable time with the architects, artists and others engaged in creative endeavours and exhorted them to keep up with their talented missions. The unique feature of the festival is the programmes with focused attention on educative and social themes, like Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Adult Education, AIDS Control, Partnership Initiative Programme, Empowerment of youth through various training and professional skills and documentaries on freedom movement. The stalls of Le Corbusier Center, Jaspal Bhatti’s Comedy Show, Film City with theatrical performances, shooting and multimedia animation educative awareness, CITCO da Vehra, display of historical places through digital library, Museum and Art Gallery exhibition and shop of paintings and drawings on various themes Punjab Tourism and Haryana Tourism were a source of great attraction for the visitors. The Jordan, Hungary and France countries participated and put up their stalls in the Chandigarh Carnival showcasing the special features of their respective countries.
General and Mrs. Jean Rodrigues watched with keen interest the performances by the artistes on the stage. The senior officers who were present on the occasion included Mr. Ram Niwas, Home Secretary, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Finance Secretary, Mr. D.K. Tiwari, MD, CITCO, Mr. D.S. Saroya, Director NZCC, Mr. Brajindra Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Mr.S. Srivastava, SSP, Ms Amandeep Kaur, CGM CITCO-cum-Director Tourism, Mr. R.S. Verma, Director Culural Affairs, Mr. N.P.S. Randhawa, Director Museum and Art Gallery, Mr. V.N.Singh, Consultant Le Corbusier Center, Mr. Surinder Pall, Chief Engineer and Ms Sumit Singh, Chief Architect.
