In this year’s Diwali celebrations, the children of Shikshantar gathered in their spaces to experience the unique energy of the beloved festival of lights, expressing their joy through creative movements and songs.
The Pre Primary children prepared ‘shakkarparas’ to share with their friends and family. Collecting fallen flowers, they formed creative rangolis with their little hands. During the Diwali Pujan, Seema Didi introduced the little ones to the significance behind each offering through a beautiful story. They learned how ‘haldi’ represents the energy of the sun, filling our lives with warmth and light. ‘Kumkum’, they discovered, stands for the inner power that lives within each of us. The flowers symbolized nature’s beauty in diversity and so on.
The children’s connection to the festival was reflected in classroom experiences, exploring its various facets. Diwali is another occasion for children to strengthen their relationship with Mother Nature and deepen their bonds with all. In Primary School, children crafted diyas using clay and paint. They also created write ups on the combination of light and darkness in their lives and what they liked about each aspect -
“To me, Darkness means calm, peace and stillness”, “light helps to unlock the beauty of nature and our earth”
As the festival drew closer, discussions in Circle Time among the Middle School children had them explore the duality of one’s inner nature and the impact of their own choices on their lives. Outside their classrooms, they collaborated to create colourful rangolis. Sharing the different ways Diwali is celebrated in different regions of the country, they also expressed the symbolic importance of the festival as a cleansing of our inner selves and the negative emotions within.
Following the annual Diwali tradition at Shikshantar, the entire school team gathered to reflect on the incredible energy with smiles, songs and heartful sharings. After the dance team performed elegant creative movements to soulful music, everyone pitched in to sing some familiar bhajans, ‘achutam keshvam Krishna Damodaram...’. The eventful day was brought to a close with a Diwali token for all and well wishes to each other for balance and harmony.