[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Assam government will invite Pune girl Vaidehi Reddy, who won the sixth edition of Doodle4Google contest, to visit the state along with her family.
She won the contest through her beautiful depiction of the colourful, natural and cultural mosaic of Assam.
“The unbounded love and affection shown by the 9th standard girl for Assam in her doodle of the day creation on Children’s Day today is indeed commendable and praiseworthy. I extend my heartiest congratulations to her for depicting the State of Assam so beautifully in her Doodle design. She has showcased Assam on an international platform,” Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said in a statement on Friday.“I would extend invitation to her and her family to visit Assam. My government will arrange everything during her stay here. I would also invite her to have breakfast with me,” he added. Vaidehi, who loves drawing and sketching, had earlier expressed the desire to visit Assam. After winning the competition, she had said, “I want to go to Assam because it is rich in both natural beauty and culture. Its music and rich folk arts are also very good.”
The theme for this year’s competition was “A place in India I wish to visit,” and Vaidehi in her doodle portrayed Assam as “Natural and Cultural Paradise”. It went live on the Google homepage on Friday. She highlighted the wildlife, one-horned rhinoceros, tiger, Bihu dance, bamboo trees and tea bags denoting the luscious green farms of tea.
The Doodle4Google competition, which is an annual Google India property, was launched in 2009 and is open to students from grades 1 to 10. The students are invited to design the Google Doodle to celebrate Children’s Day.
The contest this year saw record breaking entries of over 10 lakh from more than 1,700 schools across 50 Indian cities. Altogether 12 doodles were shortlisted and put up for online voting and Vaidehi eventually emerged the winner.
By P Mazumdar
