Little Wonders
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Little Wonders |
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Alur and members of the Godrej family graced the much-awaited prize distribution for academic excellence and overall performance across the Udayachal Pre-Primary, Primary and High Schools. The Chief Guest, in her speech, bridged the gap between India’s glorious past and the country’s current scenario. She asked each one of us to be a responsible citizen of the country. She spoke about the lapses in India’s educational system, and lamented on the unsuccessful implementation of policies at the grassroots level.
The stage items began with a musical act by the students of Standard IV. The skit traced the journey of our freedom struggle, right from 1857 up to the dawn of 15 August, 1947. The Udayachal students also put up a colourful dance, which depicted freedom from society’s menaces such as poverty, child labour and the everlasting evils of dowry. We were taken back to the land of the Eastern Mountains (Udayachal), where seeds in the form of a Balmandir were sown by Soonu Godrej, Cooverbai Vakil and Jyotsna Mehta. They collectively worked to fulfil founder-consolidator Pirojsha Godrej’s dream of workers’ children making profitable use of time.
Pirojsha’s youngest son, Naoroji, developer of the School, was helped by his sister-in-law Jai, who decided to use her teaching skills with the students of Udayachal High School (UHS). The song, "Colours of the Rainbow," brought out Naoroji’s multifarious roles in promoting both the School and the Company. From humble beginnings, the Balmandir has grown into a fine School, which follows Tagore’s multi-sensory approach amidst Nature. It even included a Bengali song and dance to create the atmosphere of Shantiniketan. Pirojsha’s eldest son, Sohrabji’s role, too, was highlighted. He spent many delightful hours in School talking to the children on wide-ranging topics, but his concern for the environment ran as a common thread throughout his talks. The students of UHS aptly put up a dance drama showing how human beings are destroying Mother Nature, and ended with a plea to protect it.
This now brought us into the future. UHS students performed a ballet, "I Have a Dream," which led us to our vision of a better future. Then followed an autobiographical speech, "Hoon Udayachal School Boloo Chhoo," ("I Am Udayachal School Speaking,") by a High School student, who spoke on the Udayachal School, where students are lovingly groomed to face the real world. Last but not the least, children from the corridors and on the stage, accompanied by teachers, sang the Golden Jubilee song in unison. The felicitation of the members of the Godrej family by the Udayachal staff was filled with love and gratitude. Senior staff members did the honours. Jamshyd N. Godrej thanked the staff for its efforts in maintaining the high standard of the School. It was a delight to hear that Udayachal occupied a pride of place in the hearts of the Godrej parivar. On behalf of the Udayachal School, Saraswathi Iyer, Principal, Udayachal High School, rendered her heartfelt gratitude to everyone present. What was really appreciated was the team effort, as the staff of the Udayachal Pre-Primary, Primary and High Schools worked together wholeheartedly for the success of this programme. As the programme culminated, heads were held high, proud to be Udayachalites. Yamini Joshi |
Joyeeta Lahiri
Uma Subramaniam,
At the Godrej & Boyce Credit Society’s Annual General Meeting on 12 August, 2004, Chairman and Managing Director Jamshyd Godrej felicitates Shubha Vishwanathan. On the extreme right is Anil Verma, Executive Vice President and Head, Personnel and Administration. Shubha, daughter of Vishwanathan V.N., Process Equipment Division, secured 91.46 per cent in the S.S.C. Examination, March 2004, probably the best score among the wards of Godrej employees in S.S.C. this year. More importantly, she has achieved this score without any tuition. Shubha is a student of Vidya Niketan High School, Dombivli. She is also a Master Diploma holder with distinction in Bharatnatyam, and is pursuing a University degree in this field. Ravindran M., |
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ndia’s 2004 Independence Day celebrations marked the beginning of the Udayachal
School’s
Golden Jubilee year. The programme commenced with the traditional lighting of
the lamp by Chief Guest Mithu Alur, Founder-Chairperson, Spastic Society of
India. The hall and corridors of the School echoed in unison with the School
song. Alur was received by the Road Safety Patrol and escorted to hoist the
National Flag. The guard of honour (students of Standard III), accompanied by a
band (students of Standard II), lined up the foyers. Our tricolour was saluted
and students and teachers sang the National Anthem with zest.
he Udayachal School celebrated Teachers’ Day on Monday, 6 September, 2004. This year being the Golden Jubilee year of the
School, all teachers and principals who had joined the School right from its
inception in 1955, were invited.
September, 2004 was a memorable day for the little children of Udayachal
Primary School. They attended a unique workshop, "Nav Srujan Ganesh Mahotsav,"
an event organised jointly by the Shakti Club of the Indian Institute of
Technology, Mumbai, and the Powai Lake team, with support from Vidya Integrated
Development for Youth and Adults (VIDYA), to promote eco-friendly celebrations
of the Ganpati festival. Our little craftsmen learnt to create Ganpati idols
from the Powai Lake soil provided to them, using their own creativity, talent
and imagination. They used clay, again provided from Powai Lake, watercolours
and other biodegradable material, which helped in sending a strong message of
ecological conservation. The young minds thoroughly enjoyed the training
experience.