“And look, my son, wherever you may be,

Wherever you go under this moon,

Even if you forget your mother,

Never forget your mother language.”

Silva Kaputikyan

Every Armenian having attended an Armenian school knows these words by heart as something sacred and doesn’t spare any efforts to transmit them to the next generation.

Evidence of this was the year-end Book Day ceremony that Alliance All-Armenian Cultural Association held in Nice on June 5.

It was a “constellation” of little “suns” and “stars” that created a warm atmosphere in the hall. It was a real celebration during which Armenian children sang Armenian songs and recited Armenian poems. The children were providing the historical backgrounds and reciting the fables “The Dragonfly and the Ant” and “The Wolf and the Lamb” by Khnkoyan with such mastery and pride that I reached my school and bowed in memory of Saint Mesrop Mashtots in a dream.

I could barely hold my tears back and became alert when I heard the voice of my son, Gor, who was reciting the following in Armenian:

“My alphabet, you bring to life,

Each of us generate from you,

We form words with your sacred letters,

And recite your soft sounds.

You are the key of Armenian Scholastics

And the guarantee of the existence of the Armenians,

We are the sons of Nayiri, with the letters of Mesrop.”

I shed tears again, but this time they were tears of joy…I saw a little Armenia on a stage in France. I saw children jumping for joy, patriotic boys and graceful Armenian girls…In the audience, I saw attentive people, heard warm rounds of applause and saw how excited people were and…as a parent and a teacher of Armenian language, I praised this patriotic act, and suddenly, I went up on stage and expressed my gratitude to Mrs. Karine and all the organizers for their activities that promote preservation of the Armenian identity.

Chairwoman of the association, Mrs. Petrosyan suggested applauding in memory of the heroic boys and men who died in the four-day Artsakh war in April as a symbol of unity and eternity, and I must mention the fact that the rounds of sharp applause that the people gave for a minute with shaking hands.

The ceremony ended with a performance of the Armenian national anthem underneath the Armenian tricolor flag. The audience greeted the gifted and wonderful Armenians of the new generation with rounds of applause-the generation that tried to prove that we Armenians “exist, will exist and will grow”.

The parents of the children were aware of the fact that their children need to know the Armenian language like they need to breathe air and drink water in order to preserve their national values and identity.

Parent-Ruzanna Aydinyan

Nor Harach