The Hindu : Karnataka / Madikeri News : Darien-Mercara Association celebrates golden jubilee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 29, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Madikeri

Darien-Mercara Association celebrates golden jubilee

By Jeevan Chinnappa

MADIKERI, NOV. 28. The Darien-Mercara (now Madikeri) Association is 50 years old. The sister-city relationship that started in 1954 in the belief that exchanging messages of goodwill across the globe would lead to greater world peace, particularly in the wake of World War II and formation of the United Nations, has taken deep roots.

Many citizens of Darien were exploring the possibilities of starting a cultural exchange with a distant nation in 1954. After selecting India, they consulted the Indian Consulate and the U.S. State Department for help in selecting a town. Mercara, which was the capital of the then Part `C' State, Coorg (now Kodagu) in the Indian Union, was chosen.

The First Selectman of Darien sent greetings to Mercara on October 1954 and the president of the Mercara Municipal Council acknowledged them in 1955. Return mail took almost a year. Thanks to the developments in communication technology, there is constant touch between members of the association in Darien and Madikeri now, according to Uthappa, president of the association.

There have been exchange of letters, presents and visits by the two sides in the past 50 years. A large number of books have been exchanged as well, says Frank Keen, writer. He said the annual Indian festivals were being celebrated in Darien. A baby elephant donated to Darien from here in 1957 was at the Old McDonald's Farm in Darien and was taken to Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport where it died in 1979.

Bonds of friendship

The bonds of friendship grew over the years. A number of Indian diplomats and artists have given lectures and concerts in Darien in the past five decades. The late Indian General K.S. Thimmaiah had been writing to the students of Tokeneke School, which he visited in 1958. Dignitaries such as the Maharaja of Mysore and the Council General of India visited Darien in the 1960s. Ravi Shankar, sitar maestro, gave a concert there in 1969. Many citizens from Madikeri have visited Darien since then.

Honour

The Readers Digest published an article on the association and presented a prize for the successful sister-city programme. The Readers Digest Foundation honoured the two towns in 1975. An exchange programme involving teachers of the Darien High School and the Madikeri Government College took place in 1963 and 1964. Mr. Uthappa has led a cultural exchange programme, involving the students of the Coorg Public School (COPS) at Gonicoppa in south Kodagu to the Harrow Public School in England and the Middlesex Middle School in Darien in 2001-02. The programme motivated the team again to make a similar trip to Darien last month.

Mr. Uthappa, accompanied by the principal of the COPS and its house mother Meena led a team of seven girls and three boys to the U.S. and the U.K. They participated in the golden jubilee celebrations of the association in Darien.

Special feature

The special feature was that "Cauvery Changrandi" (Cauvery Sankramana) was celebrated in New York by the visiting team. They received good support from a number of Kodavas living there, Mr. Uthappa said.

The Governor of the State of Connecticut, Jodi Rell, issued an official statement on "Darien-Mercara Day" while congratulating the association on its 50th anniversary on October 15. A proclamation was made to mark Darien-Mercara Day by Evonne M. Klein, First Selectwoman of the town of Darien, on the same day, Mr. Uthappa said.

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Darien-Mercara Association celebrates golden jubilee