India Peace Concert 2018 comes with an underlying promise that despite the chaos that exists today and the storms that rage - there is still melody for those who care to listen
BHARATI PAWASKAR
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give,’ said Winston Churchill and following these words of wisdom, Fr Agnel College of Arts and Commerce, Pillar, in collaboration with Dimensions of Goa and Mumbai, and the Village Panchayats of St Andre constituency will be presenting the second edition of ‘India Peace Concert 2018 - Peace in the midst of a storm’ on December 16 at Fr Agnel ground in Pillar. The spotlight this year is ‘Being at Peace with Mother Earth.’
India Peace Concert is a switch for sustainable peace activism and an effort to find peace in the midst of a storm. Celebrating World Human Rights Day, this year’s peace concert will focus on Mother Earth. At the concert, four individual National Peace Awards: A Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution towards peace through protection of human rights, three Outstanding Visionary Awards for contribution towards peace through environment protection, the performing arts and literature and Grassroot Level Awards initiated for those who continue with traditional occupations and who have kept their covenant with Mother Earth - will be awarded to deserving persons.
The concert is also a leadership opportunity for the students who collaborate with performers from Carmel College of Arts and Science (Nuvem), Government College (Sanquelim), St Anthony’s Boys Home (Agassaim) and St Alex Orphanage (Calangute). Peace Concert will prove to be a powerful Goan landmark on the sands of global peace, feels Dr Fr Menino Allan S M Peter Tavares SFX, convenor of the event and administrator of Fr Agnelo College of Arts and Commerce, Pillar.
Those who promote peace have joy, says the book of proverbs, point outs Dr Fr Tavares, adding, “Peace is not an absence of conflict and war, rather the presence of conflict and war is due to the absence of peaceful and joyful living.” He further elaborates, “Peace is a fundamental human right and building peace, a fundamental duty of every individual who belongs to the global family. The challenge for education system today would be to discover the reservoirs of peace within us and to rekindle the spark of the Divine that we are born with.”
Responding to the needs of the time, Fr Agnel College, Pillar found the need to practically orient and train their students with knowledge, skills and attitude of peace leadership. Recalling the last year’s event, Dr Fr Savio P Falleiro, principal, Fr Agnel College, Pillar briefs that it is to concretise this intent of peace activism we had launched India’s first of its kind, India Peace Concert 2017 on Human Rights’ day (December 10, 2017) in collaboration with seven village panchayats in the neighbourhood and national as well as regional peace awards were instituted.
“This concert as a culmination of a certificate course on ‘performing arts for peace building’ brought on stage around 200 artists communicating to the audience that we can have peace in the midst of any storm focussing on the different storms in the life of a girl child,” mentions Dr Fr Falleiro.
Last year the regional peace awardees were 110 meritorious girl students who excelled in the field of education. And four life time national peace awards were given away to peacemakers who contributed in their own professional fields. This year too will involve stellar entertainment performances by Rabin D’Pietro, Domnic Alvares, sfx, a pan pipe recital by Myron Sequeira sfx, an Indian Bamboo flute recital by Dr Mukesh Chander, DGP Goa and powerhouse vocals from the likes of Cielda, Melvyn, Vezalu, Akshada, and Varun Carvalho. The choreographers Seby and Shria have the performers in graceful sync and the evocative activist in the students will come alive as they enact short plays on the theme of ‘mining barons and my right to live’, ‘The chaos of politicians razing down hills’, ‘O market lobby, feed us fish’, ‘Will our fields yield anymore?’ and ‘Tourism of chaos.’
The underlying promise is that despite the chaos that exists today, despite the storms that rage - there is melody for those who care to listen and there are vibes of peace and harmonious co-existence that will resonate and heal.
