Happenings

Remembering the Mahakavi

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.

Class 8 Third Language Workshop

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.

In Conversation with Mr. Sanjeev Sanyal, ‎ Indian Economist, Author, & Urban Theorist

On the 8^th of December, Senior School students had the opportunity to interact with Shri Sanjeev Sanyal, a well-respected economist, author, environmentalist and urban theorist. Some of the students were familiar with his work, having used his book The Incredible History of India’s Geography as a supplementary text in their class 8 social studies course.

Mr. Sanyal spoke about his life and his work as an economist and global strategist. A Rhodes Scholar and Eisenhower Fellow, he has made significant contributions on the international stage. He reiterated the necessity for there to be a paradigm shift in how we view systems and to enhance our perspective to reflect the interconnectedness between disciplines and domains. He spoke about his work as an urban theorist, looking at how cities develop and the interactions that govern and play out over time. When asked ‘Why study history?’, he spoke about the need for current textbooks to be rewritten so that history can become more meaningful and relevant to the learner.

Sadhguru, the school’s founder, attended the talk and added his insight into the teaching and learning of history. The talk concluded with Mr. Sanyal gifting Sadhguru a copy of his newest book, The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History.

An Artistic Glimpse

On 13^th October, Suryakanti classrooms were transformed into a full-fledged art gallery. Visitors were treated to the eclectic assortment of artwork that was created during the term.

The Junior School display featured self-portraits, portraits of famous sports personalities, story quilts inspired by the work of artist Faith Ringgold, flower paintings based on house names, leaf print bookmarks, sgraffito designs, finger paint rainbows, illustrations using patterns and wax-resist techniques and clay sculptures. The youngest students had participated in a picture book workshop, in which they illustrated parts of a given story, which were then digitally enhanced and incorporated into a picture book. The picture books entitled ‘The Brave Parrot’ and ‘Neela’s Tree’ were an absolute delight.

Middle School artwork included pieces from their unit ‘My Street’ in which they explored one point perspective, atmospheric perspective, overlaps and diminishing scale to show the illusion of depth. There was also a section on water lilies inspired by the Impressionist painter Claude Monet and the IHS lily ponds. Also featured were embroidery work, bead bracelets and wire work sculptures. The Middle School art clubs showcased knit work, collage and clay sculpture.

From Senior School, class 8 student work was put up, as well as TED photography and jewellery pieces. The class 8 section included plaster carving, Madhubani painting and weaving.

Students enjoyed seeing their work, as well as their classmates’ work, on display. Viewers certainly caught a glimpse of the students’ creative edge.

In Conversation with Mr. Abhay Aima, ‎ Group Head, HDFC Bank

On the 26th of November, Class 11 & 12 students had the opportunity to interact with Shri Abhay AIma, Group Head of Equities, Private Banking, Third Party Products, NRI & International Consumer Business at HDFC Bank Limited. He provided an overview of the Indian stock market, and spoke about trends in the economy and future job prospects highlighting generational changes. He also provided his insights regarding the demonetization drive and the critical role banks will play in controlling the resultant and inevitable level of chaos. The session concluded with an interactive question and answer session.