Hari OM Dear Families,
Here is this week's update.
Week 22 :
23rd April 2023 / 9:15 AM
Opening prayers and Shlokas
Slokas: Class began with 3 OMs followed by
"Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
Om shrI Ganeśaya Namaha, shrI Saraswatyai Namaha, shrI Sat Gurubhyo Namaha.
"Vakratunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
"Gurur Brahma" (page 60 in My Prayers book)
"Krishnaya Vasudevaya" (page 105 in My Prayers book)
Clever Weavers
Some of the kids already knew the story of the Emperor's New Clothes. The story is about how a bunch of clever weavers trick a King, who was always engrossed in his clothes and appearance. They tell him that they will make special clothes made of gold and silver, but the condition is that anyone who is unfaithful cannot see them. Although no one could see anything, they kept quiet as they might be considered to be unfaithful if they spoke the truth. No one including the emperor wanted to say anything about the so-called "invisible" expensive, special cloth that his new clothes were made of. It took a child witnessing the procession to say that the emperor had no clothes on! The moral, or message, of this tale is that we must not let pride or fear keep us from speaking up. Another moral is that children speak the truth when no one else will. A child is not afraid of the consequences. Be like a child and speak the truth.
Pride And Devotion
Ekanatha Maharaja and his wife were great devotees. They had a son, who was sent to Banaras to study Vedas. Ekanatha Maharaja read Bhagavatham to the villagers every evening and explained the meaning in Marathi. Everyone enjoyed that. This went on for years. The son returned after several years and insisted on his father teaching only in Sanskrit, Ekanatha Maharaja said that they would not understand. But his son said he would teach in Sanskrit. Unable to understand Sanskrit, the villagers lost interest and stopped coming.
The son was full of pride that he had all the knowledge of the scriptures and the dad was full of devotion to the Lord. An old lady in the village had vowed to feed 1000 brahmins. She was poor, so she decided to invite Ekanatha Maharaja for dinner and feed him as he had supreme devotion and it would be equivalent to 1000 brahmins. The son declined the invite. So she took the food to their house and served it on a banana leaf. Whatever was left behind was considered prasad. When the old lady went to take the leaf, the son snatched it and threw it away. To everyone's astonishment, another banana leaf appeared in its place. This happened 1000 times! The proud son understood the devotion and greatness of his father. He was not disturbed by the insult and the arrogant wrong attitude of his son. Ekanatha Maharaja was above honor or dishonor, like a child.
After the lesson, we practiced for the play. It was a short class, so we headed to the main hall around 10.15 a.m.
We enjoyed the Earth day presentation and the skits by 5th and 8th graders.
As we are getting closer to the date of our class presentation, we want to make sure all the kids are confident with their lines, expressions and costumes.
The general costume requirements were already shared with you all. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to us on whatsapp. You can send pics if you are unsure about the costume.
We are planning to meet around 8.45 a.m next Sunday to do a stage practice. Stage is available only from 9-9.30, so it's important that we are all on time at 8.45. Reminders will be sent out at the end of the week.
In the practice next week, we want all the kids to know their lines perfectly, and be sure of who goes before them, be alert and ready with their lines.
Vidhya Aiyer & Neelima Turaga
