In this fast-paced world where everything tends to be fleeting and where change is the only constant, it’s difficult to raise children with unwavering faith and deeply rooted value system; especially when these children are growing up in homes which keep on resonating with the jingling of devices and where everyone is busy with customary encounter of flashing media files. However, Atmiya Vidya Mandir is a saviour where young students are being nurtured and shaped to emerge with firm and deeply rooted values and ethics. This noble mission of the school’s founder His Divine Holiness Param Pujya Hariprasad Swamiji is not a one-day process, but a continuous and comprehensive effort to instil moral values and ethics in young students. Hence, the school organises creative assemblies which effectively serve the purpose of shaping the character of these children to be spiritually robust and morally strong. The recent creative assembly presented by Sundaram House aimed to infuse in young children a feeling of patriotism and a sense of responsibility towards our country and its people. This cultural event was held on 15th August 2023 to mark the celebration of 77th Independence Day.
All members of Sundaram House, the students and teachers beautifully decorated the stage with different set-ups for this creative assembly. A makeshift iron-barred prison was placed at one side of the stage and a beautifully decorated home setup was made on the other side. The centre of the stage carried a vibrant backdrop of artificial trees, a replica of brick walls and fresh plants. After attending the flag hoisting event, when students, teachers and hostel staff started to settle in the Prayer Hall, they were looking at the draped stage with much anticipation. As soon as the curtain was raised, there was a roleplay of the scene in which the fierce patriot Bhagat Singhji carried the soil of our motherland and showed him vowing in front of the British Commander to sacrifice his life to save his country. Looking at this role play, the young students in the audience were thrilled and inspired to find Bhagatji speaking resolutely and quite courageously to sacrifice his life for Maa Bharti.
In continuation to this, was a complementing dance drama which sent forth a wave of emotions among the audience. The young performers of Sundaram House were gracefully grooving and quite fervently moving on a soul-stirring lyrical tribute to Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the safety and wellness of our country.
Through this creative assembly, ‘Mera Desh, Meri Bhakti’ Sundaram House members intended to make their audience carry home a message and a resolution to be a responsible citizen of Bharat. The next performance by the junior wing students was an Atmiya version of “Nanha Munna Rahi Hu, Desh Ka Sipahi Hu” which precisely conveyed and convinced everyone present in the hall to show their love for their country by consciously doing tasks like paying taxes honestly, saving water and electricity, saving environment and helping old and needy. In addition to this, the students were once again reminded of all those small habits which Param Pujya SwamiShree always emphasized to follow like resorting to prayers in distressful times, keeping the surroundings clean, addressing other students with utmost respect as ‘Bhai’ and being accepting and compassionate to all.
The last part of the programme was students carrying different parts of the map of Bharat and assembling it and creating our country’s map with slogans alongside, ‘We are One’ and ‘True Patriot’. Thus, this creative assembly ended but the words of righteousness and patriotism of Bhagat Singh will continue to reverberate in the hearts of all students and teachers; those visuals of dying soldiers effectively reignited the sense of accountability among all; the demonstration of constructive ways to exert our love for Bharat left a long-lasting imprint in the minds of these young students. As Param Pujya Swamishree had always dreamt of cultivating devotion and patriotism towards the nation and Maa Bharti among the students, this creative assembly contributed to His noble mission.
Seema Ma’am