Indian Cultural Centre in Budapest goes online

The coronavirus pandemic engulfs major countries of Europe. Embassy of India decides to cancel all direct classes and interaction, all events and put all measures for precaution in place for the safety of its employees and visitors. The India Cultural Centre announces its online courses, recorded on videos and made available to the students immediately on social media platforms. Within next few days India locks down and threat of the Corona reaches all big countries besides China and Europe.

The concept of having online classes is not new. Since ages, online platforms and portals have been creating educational lessons for students for distance learning. Master classes have been available from doyens of different fields for the students who are unable to afford admission in premier institutions or can’t go out of their countries to learn from the masters. But it is the first time that Indian Embassies of the entire world have turned towards teaching about Indian culture through social media platforms.

The Indian Cultural Centre in Hungary took the lead in this and immediately developed modules suitable for posting online.

The three important courses taught by Indian teachers at the Amrita Sher-Gil Cultural Centre of Embassy of India are Yoga, traditional classical dance Kathak and Tabla, a classical percussion instrument from North India. Besides this, there are four other weekly courses that are taught by trained Hungarian teachers in dances like Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi and Sitar.

The Indian teachers not only started uploading fresh videos based on their lesson plans, but also actively conducted Skype lessons, facebook Live Sessions with students as well as using the Whatsapp video chats to solve their academic queries and problems. On the concept, Director, India Cultural Centre, Tanuja Shankar, opined,’ Due to the ‘stay at home’ orders and the partial curfew in Budapest, students are all at home.

There is a feeling of anxiety, fear and despondency regarding the virus that is a matter of worry for them.

They want to be relaxed, calm and de-stressed. These daily video lessons help them not only be abreast with their courses, but also feel relaxed and tension free. They practice at home and are in touch with their teachers.’

Teachers record their videos which are then edited properly. Thereafter those videos are uploaded on the Embassy social media platforms and shared with the students. Once a week each teacher goes ‘Live’ on facebook doing one lesson online, where not only the students but general viewers are also able to get the benefit of these live sessions. The teachers also interact with them live and answer their queries related with the subject.

Yoga teacher, Ankita Sood is of the opinion that ‘ In these distressing times, I am able to connect with my students on a very different level. Challenge is bigger, but the connectivity is also huge. I have become more sensitive towards their conditions and problems and am able to understand their needs. Kathak Teacher Sonali Roy says,’ As a teacher, I had to unlearn and then learn new techniques of teaching. I had never imagined that I would be connecting with my students so deeply through social media’.

On the other hand, the Hungarian teachers conduct Skype and Zoom group lessons, teaching them from their course so that during this lock down period they donot miss out on their learning. The centre also has regular weekly classes in Hindi the main language of India. Hindi language Teacher Prof Maria Negyesi has been taking regular Hindi lessons and feels that she had never thought Skype could be such a good teaching tool especially when one of her students is stuck in Tehran and is able to connect with her on these Skype classes.

Prof Negyesi has started Hindi stories recitation with the students to make the mood light and stress free. In addition to this, the Cultural Centre is also planning some live musical events, and yoga sessions with other artists and members joining them in this initiative. In these tough times of quarantine and forced house bound situations, novel and creative ideas make the challenging times more relaxing and enjoyable, giving respite to the people. And there is a seamless transmission of knowledge and information about India and Indian culture without any hindrance.