Indian children wrote their names in Baybayin, a Filipino script with distant roots believed to reach back to ancient India.
AN Indian schoolgirl holds up her hand-drawn chart of Baybayin consonants after learning the Filipino script at Vega School in Gurgaon, India.
Photograph courtesy of Manila in India
Around 100 Indian schoolchildren learned to write their names in Baybayin during a Philippine cultural program in Gurgaon, India.
Students from classes 2 to 5 of Vega School were introduced to the Filipino writing system by Philippine Embassy Third Secretary and Vice Consul Ronn Bautista during the recent activity.
The students were also shown similarities between Baybayin and Devanagari, the script used for Hindi.
The embassy said Baybayin is among Southeast Asian writing systems believed to trace their distant origins to India’s ancient Brahmi script.
The program also introduced the students to Filipino children’s literature.
Filipinos Evangeline Oania and Kathleen Rebustillio read “The Yellow Paperclip with Bright Purple Spots” by Nikki Dy Liacco and “Wonderfully Made Philomena” by Bimbo Papasin.
The first book features elements of Filipino life, while the second follows the experiences of a child with autism and promotes inclusion and empathy.
Copies of both books were donated to the Vega School library after the activity.
