From the principal's desk
A village in our school Rama Devi
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Photos courtesy: Rama Devi
his year at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s public school (Vidyashram) Jubilee hills, we decided to celebrate Sankranti more purposefully. We wanted our students to have fun but also to learn and experience something new. After a brainstorming session, we decided to get the students to showcase life in a village – the backbone of our country. We hoped that this way all our students and visitors to the event will come to know how organized our villages are with spaces and places for everything, how villagers earn their livelihood, how our culture and heritage is protected and conserved in our villages. It took the collective effort of parents, teachers and students to bring an entire village to life within the boundaries of our school. The end result was a visual treat that everyone truly appreciated. Students and staff dressed as villagers and student volunteers guided visitors (parents) around the village. Here is a visual sketch, which I hope will give you an idea or two as well. The Bhavan’s village A red bus stopped near the village bus stop for visitors to alight. The entrance to the village had a festive look with student villagers beating drums and performing aarthis to welcome the visitors. As soon as we entered the village, we could see the uricheruvu (village pond), where a few families were washing their clothes and cattle. We then came across women working in the fields. The village patashala (village school) had students learning poems from the Acharyaji. The student volunteers then guided us to the grandhalayam (library), where the village youth could be seen reading books and newspapers. There was an installation of the gramadevatha (village goddess) as well. Visitors were allowed to offer coconuts to the goddess, who the villagers believed protected their fields, crops and families from evil spirits. Opposite the temple
50 TEACHER PLUS, AUGUST 2020
