With calligraphy and grace, First Lady woos students

While the girls were impressed by her charm, Charanit and Kunak were excited about the fact that the First Lady kissed them on their cheeks. Radhika, another Class VI student, blushed as she said: “She told me I am a beautiful girl.”

At the school, Peng, accompanying her husband Chinese President Xi Jinping on his three-day visit to India, interacted with students who are learning Mandarin.

A singer who holds a Master’s degree in traditional ethnic music, Peng also watched the cultural performance by students and watched a live-conference session between students here and their counterparts in Jinyuan Senior High School, Shanghai.

The presentation was part of the distance learning programme of the school. Twice every week, teachers here give Kathak and yoga lessons to children there. The Chinese teachers reciprocate with lessons in calligraphy and Tai Chi, a Chinese martial art.

The First Lady, who started learning calligraphy at the age of five from her father, showed her skills to the children. She wrote: “It is important for all of us to keep learning and work hard to achieve the goal we have set in life.”

The dancers in the school presented Rabindranath Tagore’s famous poem, Where the mind is without fear, in Kathak, Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam. “We welcomed her in Mandarin, sang a song and recited a poem. She was quite impressed by our pronunciation,” Prajwal Prakash, a student, said.

“She shook hands with all of us, hugged some and kissed two boys on the cheeks,” Aryam, a student, said.

The session, which lasted for over an hour, left teachers and principal Madhulika Sen proud and happy. “We are going to continue our work and efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries with more vigour,” Sen said.