Basking Ridge holds 3rd annual poem competition in Hindi

It is now or never! Heart pounding, the child makes their way step by step up the hard, wooden stairs and onto the enormous stage with bright red velvet curtains that hung in generous folds parting from both sides. The judges set before the stage, watching and waiting to see what this child has to offer. The audience settles behind the judges, excited to enjoy the child’s performance. The child positions themself in front of the microphone, closes their eyes, and takes a deep breath. One, two, three... Finally, all the hard work pays off as the child commences the recitation of a poem in Hindi using the knowledge which they obtained from the past 3 years. The audience quietly listens grasped onto every sentence, every word. Parents smile in the crowd and think: the past few months of extensive preparation and training were worth it.

On Sunday, January 12th, 2020, Basking Ridge Hindi School celebrated its 3rd annual Poem Recital Competition in the auditorium of Oak Street Elementary School. Since, September 2017, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has managed Basking Ridge Hindi School with the help of several, dedicated volunteers, and boy has it grown!

In 2017, Basking Ridge Hindi School had simply three levels, but now in 2020, there are five class levels with twice the number of volunteers since then. Of the five levels, the top-scoring contestants will compete in the semifinals with students from other Hindi schools throughout New Jersey and neighboring states on February 23, 2020 in Bridgewater, NJ.
Students attend Hindi classes every Friday from 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at William Annin Middle School. Students attending Basking Ridge Hindi School not only come from Basking Ridge but also from the neighboring towns such as Warren, Bridgewater, Berkeley Heights, Watchung, Stirling, New Providence, Chatham, Summit, and Parsippany. These classes are solely possible because of a nonprofit organization, HindiUSA. Mr. Devendra Singh and Mrs. Rachita Singh founded this enormous organization with just a few volunteers, but today, it has expanded to over 4000 members across 7 states. All members of HindiUSA are, simply, volunteers in the community who want to disseminate the knowledge of Hindi in the United States. To this day, HindiUSA has established twenty-four Hindi schools in states such as New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Georgia, California, and Missouri.

Despite the schools' success, many inquire: Why does HindiUSA host a poem competition? During the Poem Recital Competition of 2020, Dr. Gupta decided to respond to this question as he explains, “Reciting a poem is the best way to learn Hindi as it helps perfect the pronunciation which is where most Hindi learners struggle”. Ever since the very first Poem Recital Competition, inaugurated by former Mayor Bill Carpenter in 2018, Basking Ridge Hindi School students have traveled up a long, steep road of education and studies with success as their destination. Many of the students enrolled in Basking Ridge Hindi School come from non-Hindi-speaking families, so it is absolutely astonishing to witness their poems and the amount of improvement in all students.

Hindi is becoming increasingly important in the United States as many are seeking jobs in India as expat assignments, especially in the Information and Technology sector. It is Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s mission to extend the HindiUSA program to any and all families, children and adults alike, who wish to learn Hindi and Indian culture.