As a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Swacch Bharat’ campaign, schools across the country were urged to bring awareness to the importance of personal and environmental cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene.
Isha Home School students and teachers participated in their own way to commemorate Gandhi’s contribution to nation building.
The morning began with a special joint assembly that included dances choreographed and conceptualized by visiting artist Sanjukta Wagh. Sanjukta has trained extensively under Guru Smt. Rajashree Shirke in Kathak and under Pt. Murli Manohar Shukla in Hindustani Music. She has worked in the field of Classical Dance for several years as a leading performer, assistant choreographer, teacher and researcher. Her dance-theatre productions and solo performances have been appreciated by dance connoisseurs and audiences from across the country. She holds a Diploma in Dance Studies from the acclaimed Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, which has further refined her form and approach. She also holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in English Literature. Given her passion for literature, theatre, dance and music, she founded ‘Beej’, an interdisciplinary initiative for performance and movement research.
This interdisciplinary approach was refreshingly evident in the morning program.The first item was a kathak piece dedicated to the Goddess of Knowledge – Saraswati – as this day happens to fall during the Navaratri festival. The second piece was an expressionistic piece by Senior dance students, set to ‘Vaishnava Jana To’ – one of Gandhiji’s favourite bhajans. Students created their movements based on their readings and interpretations of Gandhiji’s principles of ahimsa and satyagraha and the Swadeshi Movement. Following the performances, students were informed about the nationwide ‘Swacch Bharat’ campaign and their partaking.
Post-lunch, all members of the school participated in a school-wide super-clean up. One of Isha Home School’s main objectives has always been to inculcate a sense of responsibility and ownership within every student towards his/her surroundings. For this special day, teachers and students decided to go into every nook and corner of the school, cleaning their classrooms, labs, work-spaces and houses. The students even went into the worksheds and store-rooms, which are usually maintained primarily by the Sevadhars. They went through all the material, sorted things out and gave the rooms a thorough clean up and reorganized all spaces. Towards the evening, all gathered at the Gnana Shala gardens and were treated to a special snack of freshly made hot sabudana vadas and jaljira, before retiring to their spruced up spaces.