100 Thousand Poets for Change (TPC) celebrated its ninth poetry festival, the first of its kind to be celebrated online, on 20^th September, 2020. Organised by Rati Wadia – former Principal, Queen Mary School; Katie Bagly, award winning writer of children’s books; and Menka Shivdasani – award winning poet and editor, and ably conducted by Pooja Jaisingh – Founder of Fun ki Pathshala, the fest witnessed participation from students and enthusiasts as young as age 3!

The theme of the ninth episode of 100TPC was ‘Love Is A Many Splendored Thing’ and the children rose to the occasion and shared words on a range of their cherished people and things including parents, books, poetry, sports and exploration. Internationally acclaimed award-winning author and poet, Dr. Paramita Mukherjee Mullick, presided as the Chief Guest on the occasion.

The event showcased poems, songs, dances, a skit and a mandolin recital. Katie Bagli said, “The 7 to 8-year-olds from Fun ki Pathshala made us all proud with the smooth dramatisation of their roles in the play, ‘A Strange Love’, despite being kilometres away from each other! And hats off to these little ones for their quick thinking – when one child’s net stopped working, another took over with such presence of mind, nobody even realised!”

J B Petit School’s creative dance teacher, Ila, synchronised dance movements of Kathak, Bharat Natyam and Odissi styles with poetry recitations, with one student reciting her poem from her home while another enacted the same poem from hers, giving an appearance like both were performing on one stage. The Principal of The Mahapragya School proudly launched a book of poems written by her students which is getting archived for posterity at the prestigious Stanford University of California. The highlight of the Festival was the founder of 100TPC, American poet – Michael Rothenberg addressing all the children, from the US.