Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Singing for peace in these troubled times

— Photo: K. Ganesan

NEED OF THE HOUR: Students participating in a peace concert in the city on Monday.

MADURAI: A peace concert woven with positive messages in a poignant, respectful and easy to internalise manner was held at the Railway Stadium here on Monday.

A one-minute silence was observed during the start of the concert to pay homage to those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. The idea of the concert was to promote peace, goodwill, harmony, secularism and empathy in the minds of young children. Children carried placards stressing the need for peace and candles were lit to mark the event. The songs for peace were sung with an emphasis on building bridges across communities, religions and nations.

In keeping with the theme of the peace concert, the children sang a carols — ‘Joy to the World,’ highlighting the message of peace in the individual; ‘Hark the herald the angels sing’ stressing peace at home; ‘While Shepherds watch their flocks by night,’ on peace in the State; ‘Jingle Bells’ for peace in the nation and, finally, ‘Wish you a Merry Christmas’ for peace in the world.

Speaking earlier, chief guest Anil Singhal, Divisional Railway Manager, said that to maintain proper balance in society, which was plagued by materialistic ambitions and individualism, peace concerts like this were much needed.

Destruction of lives in the name of caste, religion and nationality was happening on a large scale in contemporary times and to stop these acts of violence one had to take the initiative on his/her own with the slogan, ‘Let there be peace on earth.’ “Let it begin with me,” said Jeyasuresh Jayaraj, president, Young Men Christian Association, Madurai, who presided over the function.

The choristers included about 1,000 students from various schools in the city and the concert was organised by the YMCA.

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