Diwali 2023

We had a wonderful Diwali celebration at school, with a cultural programme of drama, Ramayana recitation and song, all drawing on stories around Diwali. You can find a short video here:

Diwali on YouTube

For about two weeks leading up to Diwali, our pupils and staff are preparing and decorating the school. Here is a very short video of the girls preparing for Diwali (just over 2 minutes):

Preparing for Diwali

Usually we just let each class decorate their classrooms as they wish, and then teachers and we as the family behind the school tour each room and admire what the students have done. This year, because we won’t do a major performance like we did in January last year, we decided to prepare a short play about the origins of one of the key Diwali traditions; special decoration of the corridors of the school for all to enjoy, and some singing from the Ramanyana Hindu epic of the story of Ram and Sita which is what Diwali celebrates (the end of their 14 year exile in the forest). This last part is done in a form of Hindi that is a bit like what Shakespeare is to English, so every five lines for the 41-line text, there will be a pause for explanation of the story in modern Hindi. 
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We also had a bazaar for the children to sell crafts they had made, as well as breakfast and snack food that they had prepared, some at home and some at school. All of our student vendors sold out and it was an interesting experience for them – these children don’t usually get to do much with money!