Children's Day and Google Doodle Special in India

In India Children’s Day is celebrated on November 14^th – commemorating the birthday of the former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru… internationally it is celebrated on a different day though..

I had earlier posted about ‘Google doodles’ – the Google logo on search page which many a times are animated expressions.  Google puts special doodles marking special occasions and days.  Google doodles on homepage of the search engine has made it more fun and enjoyable for the users and nobody ever anticipated that it would become so popular.  Nowadays, many users excitedly anticipate the release of each new doodle and some even collect them!   Having a little bit of fun with the corporate logo by redesigning it from time to time is unheard of at many companies but at Google, it is a part of the brand.  The doodle team has created over 300 doodles for Google.com in the United States and over 700 have been designed internationally.

Recently, Google India  launched its third Doodle 4 Google contest open to school students across the country  for creation of  doodles that will replace traditional Google logo on Children's Day on November 14. The winner of the contest will receive a prize technology starter kit, which includes a laptop, a year's internet connection along with a cash award of Rs. 2,00,000 for the school the star doodler represents. The contest was  open for children in the age-group of 5-16 years.  The theme of the doodle  was   'India's gift to the world”.  With more than 1.5 lakh entries and over a lakh online votes, the anticipation has been building and there was much at stake.   

7 year old  Varsha Gupta of Greater Noida is the national winner with her imaginative doodle, entitled “Indian Musical Instruments”.  Varsha Gupta,  attends Ryan International School, Greater Noida.  Varsha Gupta’s doodle of the Google logo artfully depicts how India is a land of different cultures and music plays an important role in it. The doodle artfully represents many musical instruments that India has introduced to the to the world- Tabla, Sarod, Veena and Shehnai. The Doodle team and Jennifer Hom – the creative force behind the legendary Gandhi birth anniversary doodle, chose the winning doodle for India.

Today, it is featured on Google India homepage and she has won  a technology starter package that includes a laptop, a year’s Internet connection and a Rs.2,00,000 technology grant for her school.  There were other groups as well and

•           Grades 1-3: Shibajyoti Choudhury (Group I) from Jamshedpur won the group prize for his doodle titled ‘Developing excellent India and World’

•           Grades 4-6: Abhinav R. (Group II) from Coimbatore won the prize for his doodle titled ‘India’s contribution to the world - Tradition’.

•           Grades 7-10: Nishi Bordia (Group III) from Indore won the prize for her doodle titled ‘India’s gift to the world - India itself’.

So, Google continues to be thought-provoking and innovative.

Regards – S. Sampathkumar.