And we hit the daylight saving mark...

The previous session was the day our clocks sprung forward :)

Any hint of spring is a welcome one...

As far as the class was concerned, we practiced reciting the daily prayers - Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9), the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book) and the Guru Sthothram. We also practiced the bhajan - Bala Gopala (My Prayers Book - pg 167).

 In Ramayana, after briefly revising the previous classes' session for the benefit of the absentees, we traced the footsteps of Rama and Lakshmana to the banks of the river Pampa where they met Shabari, who was holding on to life for a glimpse of Lord Rama. She had such devotion towards him that she collected the ber fruit to offer him, but bit and tasted each fruit before offering it, to ensure that he got only the sweetest and the best of fruits. This upset Lakshmana, but Rama only saw her good intentions and explained to Lakshmana that so great was her love for him that she wanted only the best for him.

The moral we learnt hear was that God accepts whatever we offer him with the best of intentions. This led to a general discussion of how God does not expect money, sacrifices or any grand gestures and will accept anything that we are able to offer with a true heart.

Then we read about how Rama & Lakshmana met Hanuman, the minister of Sugreeva, the Vanara king in exile. We read the story of Bali and Sugreeva and the misunderstanding that crept between the brothers leading to Bali ousting Sugreeva from the kingdom of Kishkinda, sending Sugreeva into hiding. He took refuge in the mountains as Bali was cursed by a saint and hence could not enter the mountains. Rama promised to help Sugreeva get back his kingdom and in return, Sugreeva assured that he would extend help in their search for Sita, whom the Vanaras had seen being kidnapped by Ravana, and had found a pile of jewellery that she threw to leave a trail.

Here, we contrasted the way the two sets of brothers - Rama & Bharata on the one hand and Bali and Sugreeva on the other - reacted to certain situations, one of trust and love and the other of mistrust and misunderstandings.


The kids who weren't present during the previous class got a chance to practice writing their names in Sanskrit. The kids also practiced writing the first few lines of Sanskrit consonant writing. Whatever lines were remaining, the kids were asked to finish writing at home.


See you at the next class.

Our first test of the year and a birthday to celebrate...

The previous class turned out to be a very productive one!

We practiced reciting the daily prayers - Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) and the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book).


We had a test of reciting the first five verses  of the Guru Sthothram and both Sathvik and Raaghav did an awesome job of it. They got rewarded for the same and were pretty excited about it :)

We have completed the Guru Sthothram. In the coming weeks I'll be sending in notifications for preparing a few verses at a time for testing and soon the kids will be comfortable reciting the whole Guru Sthothram.We also finished learning the bhajan - Bala Gopala (My Prayers Book - pg 167) and practiced the bhajan Atma Nivasi Ram (pg 209-210).

In Ramayana, after a short review of how Ravana tricked Sita into crossing the Lakshman Rekha and dragged her off in his chariot. Her shouts for help drew the attention of Jatayu who came to her defense, but after struggling valiantly, his wings were cut off by Ravana who proceeded to carry Sita away to Lanka. All along the way Sita drops her flower garlands and jewellery, in the hope that the trail will lead Rama to her. In Lanka, Ravana tries his best to convince Sita to marry him and entices her with all his wealth, but when she scorns him, he locks her up in Ashokavana with ghastly rakshasis as guards and gives her a year's time to agree to his wishes or suffer the consequences. When Rama and Lakshmana returned to the ashrama and realized that Sita was missing, they got worried and upset and started looking for her. We learn of how Rama is initially angry with Lakshmana for not listening to him and also so upset that he decides to destroy the earth as he feels life without Sita is not worth living. Lakshmana manages to calm Rama down and make him see reason, that innocents should not have to suffer for the evils done by rakshasas, but instead they should look for Sita and punish the evil doer. As they start their search, they find the fallen flowers from Sita's garland and reach Jatayu, who is just holding on to his last breath to convey the message to Rama that Sita has been abducted by Ravana and taken to Lanka. After conveying the message, Jatayu passes away. 

We continued with the next line of consonant writing in Sanskrit. Since we had just half the class in attendance I'll be repeating the same next class.

They also practiced writing their names in Sanskrit. It involved using colored markers and they loved that they could now write their names in a whole new language!

It was Sathvik's birthday and we wished him while he distributed muffins.

We concluded the class as usual with Om Poorna Madah and Sarve Bhavanthu. 

See you at the next class. Please be sure to bring your folders along with the map of India.

A long break, a gap and another break...

After the excitement of the previous weeks, what with the Republic Day celebrations and all, we finally got down to serious work...

We practiced reciting the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) and the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book).

We have covered the Guru Sthothram till verse 11 (pg 85-86). I will be testing the kids on the first 5 verses during the next class. Please have the kids prepare for the same. We started with a new bhajan - Bala Gopala (My Prayers Book - pg 167).

In Ramayana, we quickly went through the previously covered chapter of how Surpanakha approached Rama for marriage and ended up getting her ears and nose cut off by Lakshmana when she tried to attack Sita. Then we learnt about how she went and cried in front of her brothers Khara and Dushana, demanding revenge for her insult. But both brothers, along with their huge armies were killed in the battle with Rama and Lakshmana. Only the rakshasa Akampana escaped and went to the other brother Ravana, who was the most powerful among them. Surpanakha also went to him and provoked him to kill Rama and Lakshmana. Ravana became furious and commanded Maricha to go along with him for revenge. But Maricha had already witnessed first hand the bravery of Rama and Lakshmana when they defeated the rakshasa during their travel through the Dandaka forest with Valmiki. So, he advised Ravana to not be so rash and challenge such a powerful person. But Ravana was angry and adamant and ordered Maricha to take the form of a golden deer and gambol about in Chitrakoota in front of Sita. Maricha had no choice but to follow the orders of his king. When Sita saw the beautiful deer, she insisted on having it for a pet and asked Rama to get it for her. Despite Lakshmana's protests and suspicions, Rama told Lakshmana to take care of Sita and went to hunt the deer, which took him deeper and deeper into the forest. When he realized he couldn't catch up to it, he decided to hunt it down and carry its skin for Sita. When he shot the arrow, the deer morphed into the rakshasa Maricha, who called out loudly for help from Lakshmana and Sita and then died. Seeing this, Rama panicked and started rushing back to the hut to make sure Sita was fine. In the meantime, when Lakshmana and Sita heard the call for help, Sita ordered Lakshmana to go help his brother but Lakshmana felt it was a trap and refused to disobey his brother's orders of staying and taking care of Sita. She got upset and forced him to leave. So, Lakshmana drew the Lakshman Rekha and told Sita to stay within the draw line as it would protect her from harm. Anyone who tried to cross the line to reach her would be burnt. But if she came to the other side, there would be no one to protect her. As soon as Lakshmana left in search of his brother, Ravana came in the disguise of an old man seeking alms and tricked Sita into crossing the line.

Through the story so far, we discussed about how it is important to obey our elders as they know what is best for us even if things might not be to our liking at that time.

We proceeded with the Sanskrit consonant writing. The homework is to complete whatever is remaining on the sheets provided.

I have written the names of each child in Sanskrit on their homework sheet. Please take a look and email me if there is any correction in the same. Next class onwards, the kids will practice writing their names in Sanskrit.

We practiced the pledge in class. During the next class, we will practice having the rest of the group repeat each line so the kids can lead the pledge soon at the assemblies.

We concluded the class as usual with Om Poorna Madah and Sarve Bhavanthu. I have also revised the meanings of the last prayer and will quiz he kids regarding the same during future sessions.

Reminders: Please memorize the first 5 verses of the Guru Sthothram. There will be a test next class.
Complete the sheet of consonant writing.
No class on 15th February. See you at the next class. Don't forget to bring the maps of India, we will be working on them.

Rehearsals And Republic Day Celebrations

Let me begin by saying "Good job!" on the performance at the Republic Day celebrations. It was wonderful to see the kids all dressed up and reciting their lines confidently. A special shout out to Sathvik's costume, absolutely loved it!

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the parents for all their efforts in getting the kids dressed up as well as helping them practice their lines.

Having said that , let me begin with what was covered this month...

The last couple of classes were dedicated to preparing for the annual day celebrations, apart from the regular syllabus.

We practiced reciting the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) and the daily prayers (Karaagre Vasate, Vakratunda, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Bramhaarpanam, Shubham Karoti, Kara Charana - pages 14-17 of the My Prayer Book).

We revised the Gruru Sthothram till verse 10 (pg 85-86). We practiced the bhajan Atma Nivasi Ram (pg 209-210) as well as Raama Naama Thaarakam (as they were going to perform this on the day of the celebrations).

The class before the last one was spent in finalizing and memorizing the lines that the kids would recite. During the last regular class,  we had a stage rehearsal for the same.

In Bala Ramayana, we learnt about Rama, Sita & Lakshmana progressing further into the forest to avoid repeated contact from people of Ayodhya, and how they met and received blessings of sages they met during their journey. We discussed Sita's concerns about Rama still carrying weapons and fighting demons instead of leading a life of peace and prayer, and how Rama convinced her that he was doing his duty. We learned about their meeting great Saint Agastya and how he gave the divine bow, arrow and sword designed by Vishwakarma for Vishnu to Rama. As an introduction to Agastya's power, we covered the story of Agastya staying in the South of India to balance the world when all great saints rushed to attend Lord Shiva's wedding. Also there is a story of how he humbled the Vindhya's into bowing down. We also covered the chapters involving Rama, Sita & Lakshmana taking blessings from various sages in the forest and settling down at Chitrakoota.  Before doing so, they met Jatayu (a descendant of Garuda), who informed them that he was a friend of Dasharatha, and would deep an eye on Sita whenever Rama and Lakshmana went out in the forest to hunt. The children found it interesting that Lakshmana was skilled at building a hut all by himself, despite the fact that he was a prince. We discussed about how we should learn to do our own chores and not depend on others if we can do something ourselves.

We proceeded to read about their encounter with Surpanakha, who wanted to marry Rama, and how Lakshmana cut off her nose when she misbehaved and tried to harm Sita. Then we learnt about how she went and cried in front of her brothers Khara and Dushana, demanding revenge for her insult. But both brothers, along with their huge armies were killed in the battle with Rama and Lakshmana.

As the kids had not completed their previous homework worksheets of writing Sanskrit consonants, we proceeded to do the same during class.

Please have the kids practice their daily prayers and Guru Sthothram regularly and send in their maps of India for tracing Lord Rama's footsteps. See you at the next class...

End Of The Year!

In the last class we practiced reciting the Dhyaana Shloka - Om Sahanavavatu (pg 9) followed by 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 and have completed till verse 10 (pg 85-86). We also practiced the bhajan Atma Nivasi Ram (pg 209-210).

 

In Bala Ramayana, we covered the chapters involving Bharata's approaching Chitrakoota to meet Rama. Lakshmana was suspicious about his intentions but Rama assured him that he had full faith in his brother Bharata and that he would never cause any harm to any of them. Bharata hugged Rama, cried and begged him to return to Ayodhya as the king. Kaushalya and Keikeyi also said the same. Rama shed tears when he heard of Dasharatha's demise but was firm in his decision to live in exile to obey his father's final wish. He convinced Bharata to return to Ayodhya and take up his responsibilities as the king. But Bharata refused. On being forced by Rama and on guru Vashishta's insistence, he agreed to act as Rama's deputy. But he also warned that if Rama failed to return to Ayodhya on the completion of 14 years, Bharata would jump into fire and end his life.

Thus, Bharata returned to Ayodhya with Rama's Padukas which he placed on the throne and ruled Ayodhya as his representative. We also learnt of Rama, Sita & Lakshmana progressing further into the forest to avoid repeated contact from people of Ayodhya, and how they met and received blessings of sages they met during their journey.

The kids once again practiced writing the first line of consonants and have been asked to complete the sheets as a part of their homework.

For the kids' performance on the 25th of January 2015, the kids have picked what Gods they want to dress up as. Please have the kids learn their lines and also practice the bhajan Atma Nivasi Ram for the same so that we can have a final practice during the next class.

Please have the kids practice their daily prayers and Guru Sthothram regularly. See you at the next class...