Isha Home School

Remembering the Mahakavi

December 22, 2016

On December 11^th, the birth anniversary of the renowned Indian poet, writer, journalist, activist and social reformer, Chinnaswami Subramania Bharathi, students and teachers came together to commemorate his life and legacy.

Mahakavi Bharathi or Bharathiyar, as he is commonly known, remains one of the greatest Tamil literary figures of all time. He penned poems and songs that still appeal to the current generation’s composers and singers. His poetry combined classical and contemporary spins on a wide variety of topics.

The Tamil students of class 10 presented two of his songs, ‘Nenjukku Neethiyum’ an exaltation of Goddess Shakthi, and ‘Oli Padaitha Kanninaai’, an appeal to the children of the nation to aspire for clarity of thought and to rise above pettiness.

Bharathiyar sang many songs on Kannamma, Lord Krishna or Kannan in a feminine form. The father-daughter duo of Mr. Sudarshan Iyer and Shravya S Iyer of class 7 presented the well-known ‘Chinnanchiru Kiliye.’ This was followed by the husband-wife duo of Mr. Sekar V. and Mrs. Shanti Sekar presenting the composition ‘Paayumoli Nee Enakku.’ Several teachers presented ‘Thunbam Illaadha Nilaye Shakti’ to a tune set by the Sounds of Isha.

The morning concluded with a dance performance by the junior school children to one of Bharathiyar’s famous songs, ‘Odi Vilayadu Paapa,’ in which he endeavours to instill a sense of inclusiveness in young children during play.

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Class 8 Third Language Workshop

December 22, 2016

From the 7th to the 16th of December, 8th grade students participated in a 3rd language workshop. At the end-of the 10-day workshop, students put up a culminating performance to showcase their learning. Students were given the option to learn Tamil, Hindi or French. The workshops covered the basics of the respective language.

In Tamil, the students learnt how to read and write nearly 236 letters using a method involving thirty-two carefully crafted cards developed by Pollachi Nasan. They also explored conversational Tamil and read differentiated texts. Students performed two songs, the Tamil birthday song ‘Neenda Neenda Kaalam’ and ‘Azhage,’ a song about the beauty that surrounds us.

The Hindi students explored conversational Hindi, and seamlessly moved from learning simple words to constructing sentences. Students sang ‘Bum Bum Bole’ from the movie Taare Zameen Par.

Finally, in French, students learnt simple words and expressions through the Total Physical Response (TPR) approach. The students were given commands in French would respond with the corresponding actions. Within a short while, and after several fun activities, the children started reading, speaking, and writing in French. The students presented a hilarious skit about a hungry professor that they had penned themselves.

Overall, the 10-day language exploration was an unforgettable experience for both the facilitators and the participants.

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Musical Explorations with Vocalist Vir Amar Dasmahapatra

December 22, 2016

From 12^th to 16^th December, Hindustani Vocalist Vir Amar Dasmahapatra visited and interacted with students and teachers of IHS.

Vir began his vocal training in 2004 at the age of 22 years. He has been trained, and continues to train, under various gurus from several gharanas, including Padma Vibhushan Dr. Girija Devi and Smt. Urvashi Jha of the Benares gharana, Vidushi Lalith J. Rao of the Agra gharana, and Professor Milind Manshe of the Agra gharana.

While at IHS, Vir conducted an assembly, during which time he presented an eclectic mix of songs. He began with a Chhota Khayal in Raag Vibhaas in Ektaal. This was followed by two traditional Braj folk songs. He also conducted separate sessions for Junior, Middle and interested Senior school students. He taught simple vocal exercises with sargams to the juniors; one batch learnt a simple composition in Raag Ahir Bhairav. With the middle schoolers, he explored Raag Yaman and the famous ‘Eri Ali Piya Bina’ composition, and with the seniors he explored Raag Bhupali with the composition ‘He Mahadev’.

The teachers were treated to a baithak, or informal music gathering, where he rendered a Khayal in Raag Malkauns, and semi-classical pieces, which included a Chaiti, Kajri and Bandish Ki Thumri in Raag Bhairavi.

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The Art of Visual Storytelling

December 22, 2016

On the 15^th and 16^th of December, visiting faculty member, Mrs. Shobha Viswanath, provided an introduction to writing picture books for children. The workshop was open to interested teachers and class 11 art students.

An avid collector of picture books from around the world, Shobha is a proponent of creating high quality literature for children with an Indian context in the picture book format. In India, picture books are still a nascent phenomenon, given the Indian penchant toward anthologies and oral storytelling.

Shobha stepped participants through the picture book writing process, from ideation to post-production, sharing a number of her and her publishing house’s masterpieces. Over two sessions, it became evident that writing a picture book is not as easy as it appears. Can you communicate the essence of what you want to say in less than 800 words? Have you properly visualized the illustrations and spatial distribution of your text? When a picture is worth a thousand words, how does one come up with text that is not redundant, but adds to and enhances the plot? Can you convey profundity and/ or humour in a simple manner that appeals to all age groups?

Participants went away with a newfound respect for picture book writers and illustrators, and the resolve to take on the challenge of creating their own picture book.

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IHS Sports Day 2016

December 22, 2016

Isha Home School celebrated its 12th annual Sports Fest on the 22nd October 2016. As always the day was filled with much vigor and enthusiasm.

Earlier in the term the students were divided into four sports house, Chola, Maratha, Kakatiya and Hoysala – each named after a historic empire of the Deccan Plateau.

The students then competed in various events leading up to this culminating day. These events included team games such as volleyball, football, kho-kho, dodgeball, tennis, badminton and various individual athletic events.

The scores leading up to sports day were close and there were nearly 300 points up for grabs giving every team a chance to win the coveted rolling trophy.

The day began with all the students assembling on the battle field dressed in the traditional kurta and panchakacham ready to start the “Chaatra Sanchala Vinyasa”, a march past that was designed by our founder, Sadhguru. This unique march past is a reminiscent of the battles between the great empires of yore. This was followed by the school song which was written by Sadhguru as well.

Each team then had the opportunity to present a cultural ensemble that consisted of music, dance, cheers, slogans and props all of which were created solely by them.

And then the races! The students participated in various events throughout the day. These included the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m and relay races; fun games such as lemon and spoon and balloon bursting; the much anticipated student vs alumni volleyball match and the extremely popular parent volleyball and throwball matches.

In the end, the Maratha empire led by Gobica G M and Adithyan V dethroned the eight-time reigning champion, Kakatiya, to take home the rolling trophy. The day concluded with a silent march past wherein the senior most students passed the torch to their juniors symbolically handing over the leadership and responsibilities of the school.

There were tears and smiles all around as the students rejoiced in the knowledge that the battle had been a well fought one! It truly was an experience in the spirit of our motto “I play to win but win in the victory of all “

Final Scores

Maratha – 452
Hoysala – 415
Kakatiya – 375

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