SCHOOL BUZZ
Their talent show had some Bollywood stars applauding
Smriti Kak

The grand finale of the Children’s Talent 2002, organised by the Mother’s Pride Hobby Club in the Capital, had Bollywood personalities like Prem Chopra, Chunky Pandey, Nirmal Pandey, Upasana Singh and Suresh Raheja applauding the talent of the little children in open admiration.

Children in different age groups like three to five and 13 to 15 participated in the final round of “Elan”, the fashion show for children, adjudged by Jatin Kochar and Sunalika Oberoi among others.

Chunky Pandey entertained the audience with a song, So Gaya Yeh Jahan, while Nirmal Pandey mimicked some dialogues from “Heer” and “Maar Dala”. Noted Bollywood musician and singer Suresh Raheja sang patriotic songs bringing the audience to its feet.

The jam-packed auditorium had thousands of parents encouraging their little ones perform before the august gathering. The day truly belonged to the children with some 500 of them receiving awards for their achievements in the open competitions over the preceding two months.

Some 10,000 children have so far learnt various skills in dance, music, painting, singing, fashion and elocution at the Mother’s Pride Hobby Club, which utilises the summer vacations for grooming the all-round personality of the children.

The function was dedicated to the voluntary organisation, Prayas, working for the uplift of disadvantaged children. While presenting a cheque to Prayas on the occasion, the Mother’s Pride principal, Ms Sudha Gupta, said the disadvantaged children were as bright as anybody and only needed exposure and opportunity to shine in life.

The general secretary of Prayas and the Joint Commissioner of Police, Mr Amod Kanth, pointed out that more than 20 million unfortunately placed children in the country needed to be given an opportunity to make their lives worthwhile.

Play mirrors society

Ms Bozena Volkova, wife of Slovak Ambassador, greeting the young artistes, who staged the musical play, Charandas Chor, organised by Literacy India.

Literacy India, a non-profit NGO spreading the message of literacy amongst the underprivileged through concerted action, organised a musical play, “Charandas Chor”, that blended the theatre skills of the underprivileged children combined with the abilities of the National School of Drama (NSD) artistes.

Capt Indraani Singh, founder secretary of Literacy India, says it is a contemporary play – a metaphor for society. Every character is representative of a certain kind of system that prevails in the society — be it the havaldar, guru or the rani. And Charandas Chor himself represents a thought that can rip off the stereotyped social structure but has its own limitations..

A painting by Palak, class V student of Modern School, Barakhamba.

Capt Singh says that the play is a Rajasthani folk tale. It has given to the children a platform to explore a different world – a world very close to their lives where they come across various characters, explore them, imbibe them and portray them. The rawness of their minds mingled with the tangy flavour of a folk tale gives the play all together a new dimension – a visual delight.

Shrivardhan Trivedi, director of the play, says after having traversed the realms of an Arabian tale – “Alibaba Chaalis Chor” — there was a desire to take up a play that transcends the normal norms of theatre, that goes beyond the “realistic” or “fantasy-like” patterns, which are usually done with children and for children.

A painting by Ritika, class VII student of Modern School, Barakhamba.

“But our interest was to cater to the audience of all ages and not just children so the approach was to take up something meatier in content, which is portrayed in a light manner via the medium of subtle humour. Therefore, everything had to be gelled together and children had to be inculcated a theatrical sense that goes way beyond the normal plain and sometimes a very theatrical language, which is restricted to fairy tales, Mr Trivedi says.

Ms Bozena Volkova, the wife of Slovak Ambassador, the chief guest on the occasion, says we all should contribute in shaping the destiny of these gifted and talented children.

NATURE The colour of the sun can be felt It is like gold, which is about to melt Thousands of sunrays racing each other Trying to get further and further A staircase for the fairies on sun They scamper, they gallop and further they run A gift given by nature and that is the SUN. The flowers that beam over their face With the green grass as their base With their own unique and nice smell They make a place heaven even if it’s hell Better than toys or chocolate bars A gift given by nature and that are the flowers Wearing a crown of foam on its head And by the wind its direction is led The playful waves having fun In the evening it eats the sun Wearing a cloth of pale blue All that is enough for a clue I had given you a lock and now its key Yes! It is a gift given by nature and that is the SEA The peace, which can be, found nowhere The grass is green and the trees not bare The air is fresh, it smells so sweet It is very pleasant with no sign of heat The flowers are scattered here and there The sky is blue and the clouds are fair Oh! Again you require a key by me Well... It’s a gift given by nature And that is the VALLEY Shubhanjali Gupta, Apeejay School, Pitampura

Principal Speak
Life’s little graces

The word ‘serendipity’ means to discover something good by accident. It comes from a story about a king of Serendip, who sent his sons on a journey. Since they were obedient and faithful, they discovered beautiful and valuable treasures all along the way.