A confluence of art and literature
“An artist is not a special kind of person; rather each person is a special kind of artist..” ~ Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Art is not only about drawing, painting, sculpting and so on. It has a much deeper meaning than that. It is humans expressing themselves in an imaginative and creative way. Art has a huge influence on people and it helps us discover new talents hidden inside. At Ekya, we believe in discovering and honing each and every talent of all our students. Thus we have started our year doing exactly that. From Grades I to X, we have held competitions for all the students in order to discover and enhance their skills in various fields. So as to have a competitive edge, we held two rounds of these competitions. The prelims were held on 12th June and the finale was held on 14th June 2018.
GRADE I TO IV
For our primary school children, ‘Shloka Recitation Competition’ was held. All the children were ecstatic and overjoyed. They took a lot of effort in the preparation and put up a great show. They recited various shlokas from different religious beliefs. This made them realize the importance of our nation and its sacred history.
The finale judges, Ms. Ashwini and Ms. Neelufur, gave an insight into the competition and the overall performance of the students.
“The finale was a very well-prepared event. Each student had a unique and difficult shloka yet they did not hesitate while reciting it. Their confidence was brilliant and each one’s oratory skills were put to a test. The students were crisp while speaking and knew all the difficult words by heart. A few of them even gave an introduction to their selected shloka and why it was written. This interest of theirs was very heartening.
Thus the students put up a great show with loads and loads of effort which was clearly seen and much appreciated.”
GRADE V TO VII
The next segment of our events was the “Dance Competition’ for Grades V to VII. Our little ‘Birju Maharajs’ and ‘Anna Pavlovas’ exhibited the best of their moves and put up a very intense competition. They changed the serious atmosphere with some groovy tunes which kept everyone on their toes and wishing to dance along. The effort put in was fabulous and was admired by one and all.
The judges, Ms. Ranjana and Ms. Lakshmi, gave us a little tune to write down as well.
“The entire atmosphere was electrified with the excitement of students and teachers alike. Everyone had prepared a great performance. The participants’ confidence, interest, and groovy moves were well thought of and carried out flawlessly. Their choice of songs and costumes were delightful. Many dance forms ranging from Indian classical to contemporary to hip-hop were covered extremely well. The supportive audience cheered on the participants and made the competition a very enjoyable one.”
GRADE VIII TO X
Finally, the high schoolers of Ekya put forth their views in a few of the world’s most controversial topics in a debate. Students were paired and were made to go against their partners. Their views and their way of conveying their points were extremely creative. As one of the ways of preparing the students for the real world, this activity makes them realize the importance of their voices and opinions. It teaches them to take a stand and be prepared for the people who will be going against them. The topics did put many of the students in a dilemma and made them ponder on the different sides of the same story.
While asking Ms. Asha, Ms. Meghana, and Ms. Sreepriya, the teachers in charge of the events, we learned quite a lot about the event that was held,
“Each and every student put in a lot of effort and prepared extremely well to speak. None of them stumbled around for words or stuttered. They were crisp in speaking and put forth their best arguments. All of their hard work was well-recognized and admired. All the students’ listening, speaking and convincing skills were put to test and enhanced. They had articulated speeches on both sides putting up a great debate. The questions were well constructed and the answers were bang on, too. The good participation and support from the audience created a lively space. It was a very close competition that was difficult to judge. In the end, all the students stuck to their stands and held their beliefs with adequate evidence.”
....nature must obey necessity, men at some time are masters of their fates, the fault….is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings.Let’s take a step back and think. Deep inside, is this what the parent-conscience desires to teach our children? The answer is a screaming “NO”. But, the saga continues, thanks to the rigid education framework and its evaluation system; we are losing the “humane” touch of human beings! Turning back to the protagonist of our life-athon, we unknowingly ignore our most prized possession- the child /student; the one actually running the race. Typically, if you ask a student, why do you go to school? Or why do you learn science? The answer that pops out is – because I want to be a doctor or an engineer. And, why do you want to become a doctor or an engineer? The answer is a deafening silence coupled with a perplexed expression. With the lack of self-reliant thinking, we are churning out professionals who CANNOT reason. Scarily, unable to differentiate between good and bad for their own selves, let alone the world around them. And yet, we wonder why our planet is spinning every second towards a point of no return! Probably, it is high time we break the barriers of compartmentalized education - language, history, geography, science, math, economics, life skills or art, to make it more comprehensive, more enriching. For a better planet, we need people, who can learn from the success and mistakes our forefathers made (history); value every drop of water/every bit of air our planet creates to be the only inhabitable planet in our solar system (geography); to discovering natural sustainable sources of energy compatible to the varied forms of life (science) and account for it (math). None of this is possible, without articulated speech (language). Importantly, it is essential to introspect, respect and connect ones “thoughts”, using the various forms of art and life skills, that one could acquire through experiential learning. To conclude, “I fear the day technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots”- Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Which way are we heading? Dr. Rakhi Roy is a scientist at the Centre for Brain Development and Repair, Institute of Stem cell biology and Regenerative medicine, Bangalore, India where she works on using stem cell-based technologies to develop platforms for understanding neuro-developmental disorders. A Gold medalist in Human Physiology from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and a Ph.D. from Manipal University, Dr. Pal has more than 10 years of experience in the field of stem cell biology with a particular interest in neurological disorders. She not only has multiple publications and patents to her name but also possesses a unique blend of both industry and academic experiences. Dr.Rakhi, parent of Ekya, was invited to be our guest writer on the Parents of Ekya feature. Interested parents who would like to write for us can shoot us a mail on communications@ekyaschools.com
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