Of Diwali, New Students and Quick Revisions

This is a combined blog post for the last 4 classes. One of which happened to involve Diwali celebrations with Raghav (who was the only student at that class :) ). Another class was a mixed class with one student from first grade and one from kindergarten. The next class had 3 new students, so the old students helped revise and go through whatever we had learnt till then, so the new kids could be brought up to date. The last class was when we managed to get back to routine with a regular work schedule!


For Diwali, Raghav and I discussed different ways in which the festival is celebrated in different parts of India. We also learnt that Diwali is derived from the word "Deepavali" which means row of lights. The origin of this is credited to Ramayana. When Lord Rama defeated Ravana and returned to Ayodhya with Bharat, Sita and Hanuman, after 14 years of exhile, the people of Ayodhya lit lamps to show the way as it was a dark moonless night. Since then, Diwali is celebrated as a festival of lights and signifies the victory of good over bad. As a Diwali activity, we made rangoli with a paper plate and different colored lentils.

As usual, we also practiced reciting the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by attendance and a quick revision of the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book).

We also revised the Gruru Sthothram till verse 4 and learned the next two (pg 85-86). We finished learning the bhajan Atma Nivasi Ram (pg 209-210).

 

From the Bala Ramayana book, we read the story of how Janaka, the king of Mithila, found Sita while ploughing the fields for a yagya and accepted her as a gift from Bhumadevi, took her home and brought her up as his own daughter. The kids also learnt about Valmiki reaching Mithila along with Rama and Lakshmana and how Rama took up the challenge of breaking Rudra’s bow to marry Sita. 

 

When this class was conducted, as a part of the activity, since we were attending a wedding, we discussed what gift we should give. For this, each kid got a sheet of paper on which they were asked to write down whatever bad habits they wanted to get rid of. They folded the sheets and put it in a gift bag that I assured would reach Lord Rama. The idea is that God will accept these bad habits and convert them into good ones for the kids. That would be the best gift we could give!

 

The week after that, in story time, we covered the chapters of everyone returning to Ayodhya after the marriage of Rama and Sita, the four brothers and their wives settling into a routine with their responsibilities and gaining the love and respect of the people of Ayodhya.  We moved onto the story of Manthara poisoning Kaikeyi’s mind when King Dashratha decided to crown Rama as the king. The kids were pretty sad to hear about Dashratha granting Kaikeyi’s boon of crowning Bharatha instead and banishing Rama to 14 years of exhile. The kids heard the back story of how Kaikeyi used her finger to make up for a broken spoke in King Dasharatha's chariot when he was fighting demons thereby helping him win the battle. The king was so happy that he granted her 2 boons which she decided to save to be used later. She holds Dasharatha to that promise and asks Rama to be sent on exhile and Bharata to be made king!

We discussed real life scenarios (such as mom cancelling a pizza dinner due to unavoidable work or missing out on a favorite movie) wherein the kids could react as calmly as Lord Rama did on hearing that he had to go to the forest. We decided that even if we get upset, we will not throw a tantrum but accept our parents’ decisions calmly and look for alternate solutions.

 

In the last class, we covered the chapters of Rama preparing to go to the forest after obtaining the blessings of his mother.  Just as he advises his mother Kaushalya that she cannot accompany him to the forest because a wife’s place is with her husband, Sita convinces him that she is ready to bear any hardship as long as she stays with Rama. Lakshmana also insists on coming along and Rama agrees to it. He requests Dasharatha and Kaikeyi for simple clothes, baskets and spears to help him survive in a forest. When the people of Ayodhya get angry and upset and insist on going with him, he calms them down and tells them to not get upset with Bharata and support him instead as he is not to be blamed. The people and the minister Sumantra follow Rama till the banks of the river Ganges where everyone decides to rest till the next morning. The chief of that village, Guha, provides food and refreshments and offers any aid needed. Rama accepts his offer of a boat ride to cross the river the next morning.  Rama gets ready to leave with Sita and Lakshmana before day break, so that the people of Ayodhya, who are still sleeping, will not follow him into the forest.

 

 The kids have been given a map of India, please ensure that they bring it to every class. It is a part of an ongoing activity wherein we trace the footsteps of Lord Rama as we journey through our Bala Ramayana book.

Each session was concluded with the closing prayer - Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha (pg-19).

For their homework, please make sure the kids revise their vowels (sheets were sent home) and the Gurusthothram upto verse 6.