Champion of ‘Geet Gawai’ visits Kol

Kolkata: Sarita Boodhoo, a cultural scholar and thought leader from Mauritius, was in Kolkata on Wednesday to participate in a programme celebrating ‘Geet Gawai', a traditional Bhojpuri pre-wedding ritual recognised by Unesco as an intangible cultural heritage. Boodhoo was instrumental in getting the Unesco heritage honour.Boodhoo was a student at Lady Brabourne College before moving to BHU for her Masters and PhD in Hindi. She has returned to the city several times after that, not as a student but as an influential voice in the preservation of languages and culture in Mauritius. She is also the wife of former Mauritian PM Haresh Boodhoo."It is always a pleasure to visit Kolkata. While it has changed in many aspects, the traffic snarls remain the same," smiled Boodhoo during her interaction on Wednesday evening.In Mauritius, she founded the Mauritius Bhojpuri Institute in 1982 with the aim of keeping the language alive among the Indian diaspora. "I promote Bhojpuri as a pulsating language with its lores, verbal art, proverbs, metaphors, folk songs, and kahani kissas," she recalled. The institute hosts workshops, publishes Bhojpuri literature, and emerged as a cultural hub. On Wednesday, Boodhoo met students from various institutions and stressed the role of younger generations in sustaining linguistic traditions.