Little Wonders

dayachalites from Standards III to IX were yet again fortunate in the School’s Golden Jubilee year, as they got an opportunity to enjoy a Manipuri dance recital by the famous Jhaveri Sisters, Darshana and Ranjana. This programme was organised by SPICMACAY, an organisation that promotes Indian classical music and culture among the youth. This dance form is from the picturesque valleys of Manipur, and describes the legends of Shiva – Parvati’s Raas Leela Darshana. It originates in a temple tradition patronised by society. People perform Raas in obeisance to Lord Krishna, and Sankirtana is performed as a life cycle of rituals. Women perform this classical dance during ceremonies like childbirth, ear piercing, wearing the sacred thread, weddings, etc. Manipuri dance consists of Clap cholam, Kartal cholam (with cymbals) and Pung cholam (with drums).

The children enjoyed Krishna’s Gosta Leela, starting from his childhood pranks as a shepherd, killing demons and returning home to Yashoda’s affectionate embrace. The dancers also explained and demonstrated the hasta mudras (hand gestures), and our Udayachal students followed by performing the same. These programmes help us to give our tradition a strong base and use dance as a medium to express various feelings.

Our students thoroughly enjoyed learning dance in this interesting manner, and one could almost hear them say, “Teacher, we want some more!”

e had a great opportunity to see the Manipuri dance. Our Principal welcomed this opportunity so that we could gain knowledge about Indian dances.

I liked the dance very much. The best one I liked was the Krishna and Radha dance. I liked it because of the costumes, especially the skirt called Makhla. I also admired the dance where the dancer portrayed the mischief played by Lord Krishna, like breaking pots, and stealing butter and curd.

They danced gracefully. The music was very nice. The dancers also danced swiftly. They played the drums very well. We learnt that in Manipuri dance, the eyes always look at the hands when they move. We also learnt that in this dance, hands don’t go above the head or below the knees, and their movements are circular. I would like to play the drum as fast as they did.

Nivetha Ramachandran
Standard IV

PICMACAY organises all dances and programmes because they want young students like us to realise our rich and varied heritage. We have many different dance styles, with different hand gestures, eye movements and neck movements.

I really enjoyed this show because I saw many new things. I appreciate the way the talented dancers danced. The beautiful, colourful costumes were very striking and attractive. The glowing colours swayed and swam before my eyes. These dancers had perfected the dance because of constant practice for many years. The Jhaveri Sisters gave us a lecture demonstration about the dance. The fact that a Greek girl had learnt the Manipuri dance, really surprised me. The dance was exotic. The graceful movements enchanted me. It was a lovely experience.

Kavya Bhat
Standard IV

e were excited to have such great dancers from SPICMACAY performing a dance in our School. This programme was organised so that we can learn about the cultural variety of our country, and about different classical dances. We admired the costumes of different dance styles. These programmes help us keep our rich heritage with us.

I liked this programme because of the music and the songs. All the dancers danced gracefully. I liked learning the mudras, which are necessary for dance. I liked their slow as well as fast dancing steps.

At the end of the show, I felt that I should also be able to perform the dance and be a great dancer like them.

Niranjan Shirodkar
Standard IV

dayachal Schools have time and again played host to several visitors — children, teachers, teacher-trainers and teacher-trainees, heads of institutions, corporate visitors, heads of States… the list is endless.

However, it was a group of about 17 people who came to Udayachal Primary School on 16 March, 2005, which merits special mention. They were a group of physicians, all of Pakistani descent, settled in the United States. What they had in mind was simple — reach out to their Indian brethren in a spirit of camaraderie and offer the hand of friendship.

To be in their company was a delightful experience. Simple and humble, they truly enjoyed the company of children and interacted with them. The little ones were fascinated watching their own photographs on digital cameras. The children also loved the praises showered upon them for their drawing and creative work. Some children even presented their handwork articles spontaneously to their guests. Our doctor guests even tried their hand at the puzzles in our apparatus hall. The children willingly ran to their rescue whenever the doctors were “stuck”!

As we went around, we entered a classroom of Standard III (Lovika Teacher’s) where children were learning division, using pistachio shells. It was here that the children wanted to ask our guests several questions — who they were, where they came from, what kind of work they did, etc. Then came a question, which resulted in an embarrassed silence for some moments — “How much money do you earn?” One of the doctors pointed to the President of their organisation, saying, “He will answer this question.” The President, Hussain Malik, gave a slightly indirect reply, talking about different doctors doing different kinds of work and earning accordingly. One of the doctors simply held his arms outstretched, palms facing each other and said, “This much”.

The guests had their own turn, too, at asking questions: What did the children do in School? What did they do at home? Did they travel? Then came the question: “Would you like to be in another school instead of this one?” The answer was a unanimous “No”. And the reasons given by the children were varied, ranging from the facilities in our School, to having kind-hearted and loving teachers, to “because we have visitors like you”.

Truly, any adult would be delighted to be in the company of children. They are so transparent, straight-forward and enthusiastic! They have the capacity of transporting anyone into their charming world.