Hari Om!
Dear Parents,
Today's class schedule was slightly short to allow for the children to perform the Saraswati Pooja:
- Opening Prayers: Chanting Om three times, followed by Slokās (Vakratunda Mahākāya, Saraswati Namastubhyam and Buddhir Balam).
- Mahābhārata Jeopardy & Quiz: The children participated in a surprise Jeopardy on the Mahabharata stories covered this far in the class. Parents please feel free to test yourselves as well.
- Yato Dharma Tato Jayah: We started the first couple of chapters of the curriculum for this. As part of this, the children first grasped the meaning of this line, "Where there is Dharma, there is victory". We took a bit of leap into the Mahabharata story from our last class, towards the end of the war, where Krishna advises Yudishtira to seek counsel from Bheeshma, as he had many questions about life despite being crowned the king after the war.
- As part of this discussion, we started an active discussion leveraging the chart from slide 7 of this week's class material. To be victorious, before we start exploring the "right action / Karma", we should first try to avoid the different types of sins, and how it is applicable in the children's current day to day life as a student. The children participated, we actively with several questions & comments like:
- Who or what decides what is a "good" or "bad" word?
- Today, using words like "stupid" (...and several other such words) is considered very normal part of their school & social life. They hear it in their school corridors, songs, movies, shows. So what is wrong?
- If eating chocolates or watching movies makes one happy, even if that is happiness for that moment, why is it so bad. Isn't being happy the goal?
- Sometimes using strong & harsh words provides more "forceful" impact when they have an argument / discussion with friends
We first explored the importance of Mind & Intellect. How as human beings intellect is a very important aspect which helps us make the right choice / decision. And that this is not just limited to the discussion in Balavihar but how this would apply to them in their life as a student now and young adults as they grow up. The goal is not just momentary happiness, but cultivating these habits to always be a good human and remain happy in the long term.
And specific to the questions above we explored several ways of explanation:
- How words can be defined as harsh, when they can "hurt" others intentionally or unintentionally
- How the same discussion, if had with simpler words can convey the same message and also not impact your friendship or relationship with others
- How eating healthy can benefit your physical & mental health in the long term
Next class we will explore the topic above with more examples for the children's school life. And also proceed with the next parva of Mahabharata.
Here is a link to the Geeta Chanting that the children can leverage for additional practice at home.
REMINDER:
Wish you all a very Happy Deepavali. We will not have class next Sunday Oct 23rd. See you all on Sun Oct 30th.
Pranāms
Rajesh Jayakumar and Nivedita Sridhar
