As Onam and Teachers’ Day celebrations coincided this year on the last working day after their exams, it intensified the feeling of joy and celebration for our students right before their Onam vacation.
After the exams in the forenoon, the programmes started with Acharya Vandanam. In the speech delivered by Anamika K.B., she emphasised the depth and eternal relevance of the guru-shishya relationship. This was followed by the recital of the Malayalam poem, ‘Ente Gurunathan’ by Krishnendu. Arati was performed to the teachers, sweets were distributed and students of Class XII presented the teachers with the inevitable tool of their trade – a red pen.
The essence of Onam was highlighted by the distribution of Onam kits to 10 needy families near the school. The kit contained all the items necessary for preparing an Onam feast. The rice and green gram were the contribution of the students for the ‘Pidiyari’ program which they had been bringing every Thursday since June. The happiness on the faces of the recipients, the blessings that they conferred on the children who handed over the kits and the folded hands of gratitude and relief, imparted a different dimension to the otherwise usual Onam celebrations. Our students savoured the ‘joy of giving’. After this, the Onam celebrations were made vibrant and energetic with a dance by boys from Class XI, as well as the unalloyed enjoyment and dancing of even the littlest ones to the beat of the Vanchipattu, Thithithaara thithitai. The tug of war competition gave a final touch to the hyper enthusiasm of the students.
