Poem Recitation and Mini Readathon Mark World Book and Copyright Day Celebrations at JMA Pilani

PILANI, India - April 23, 2018 - PRLog -- Books are all about sharing experience, knowledge and understanding and without doubt are the most powerful forms of dialogue between individuals, within communities, between generations and with other societies.

The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George's Day, a rose was traditionally given as a gift for each book sold. By celebrating April 23 across the globe as World Book and Copyright Day, UNESCO seeks to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright. To quote Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO "Books are at the intersection of some of the most essential human freedoms, primarily freedom of expression and freedom to publish. These are fragile freedoms."

23 April is a symbolic date for world literature. It is on this date in 1616 that Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors, such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. 23 April was first proclaimed as World Book and Copyright Day by UNESCO in 1995. Since 2000, each year a city is chosen which undertakes to maintain, through its own initiatives, the impetus of the Day's celebrations until 23 April of the following year. For 2018 – 2019 the city chosen is Athens.

Right from its inception, Smt Jamuna Mishra Academy – JMA which is one among the top ranking schools in Pilani has embarked on a rich tradition of celebrating various days of national and international significance. On 16 Apr 2018, in the school assembly, addressing the students and teachers of JMA Pilani, Principal Mrs Booma Natarajan gave a clarion call for a mini Readathon among students and encouraged the students to take and read story books of well known authors like Ruskin Bond, Salman Rushdie, R K Narayan, Sashi warrier, Devdutt Pattanaik, Sudha Murty, Anushka Ravishankar, Rohini Nilekani, J K Rowling, Lewis Carroll, Enid Blyton, Mark Twain, Leo Tolstoy, Rudyard Kipling, Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson etc which are available in the JMA Library collection of 2000 books.

Every year from 2005, the third Saturday in the month of April has been dedicated to poem recitation competition. For this year, it was conducted on 21 Apr 2018.  On 23 Apr 2018, Principal Mrs Booma Natarajan gave significance of the day and invited Miss Priya Poonia  and Miss Varsha  Sharma from Class 9 to come on stage and tell about author Man Booker Prize for Fiction (1997) winner Arundhati Roy and excerpts from the award winning novel "The God of Small Things" to the audience at school assembly.

When the celebrations ended, the students of JMA who had come for the function left with beaming faces and pride that they were indeed part of an institution which is a shining jewel in the crown among the schools at Pilani.

For more details about JMA Pilani see http://jmapilani.org/

About JMA Pilani: Smt. Jamuna Mishra Academy (JMA) established in the year 2004 is presently one of the most sought after schools at Pilani considered as Oasis in the desert state of Rajasthan well known in India today for top ranking institutions like BITS Pilani University as well as CSIR Laboratory CEERI and globally renowned Birla Science Museum. JMA Pilani is a Co-educational English Medium School with Experienced Teachers, Spacious Classrooms and Modern Amenities designed to impart Quality Education combined with All Round Personality Development and lay the Best Foundation for the Child's Future. While the school admits both boys and girls, the girl student enrollment has been steadily rising every year and is presently nearly 50% of the total strength. The school has boys NCC, girls band which has been winning laurels every year too. Yoga and Fine arts are not just part of school routine but a way of life for the students.