V.ii January 2013

When: 30 November 2012Where: Rabindra Sarobar Stadium

A bright and sunny day saw the pupils belonging to the 4 Houses – Cedar, Oak, Chinar, Palm – waiting expect-antly in their enclosures, all set to go.

The day’s proceedings began with an announcement that the Founder-Rector Mr I. Guha and the Pro-Rector Ms K. Guha would be unable to attend due to ill health, but had sent their best wishes to all concerned.

After a bouquet was presented to the Principal, Ms B. Ghoshal, there was a General Salute by the Police Band. The Principal took the salute at the March Past by Classes 9–12. She then hoisted the flag and declared the Meet open as coloured balloons, represent-ing the 4 Houses were released.

The Head Boy of the School, Shourya Bari 12B, and the Head Girl, Rajoshi

Ghorai 12A, followed by the Houses took the oath.

Then the School song, composed by the Pro-Rector and set to music by ex-student Binit Ranjan Moitra, was sung.

Classes 3 & 4, looking like flowers and butterflies, presented their drill Bright is Beautiful to the strains of Summer Holiday.

The C Division field events for Classes 3–5 followed. Flat races and the 3-legged race were interspersed with fun races: (i) Fruits on the Run, (ii) Abol Tabol (as a tribute to Sukumar Ray), (iii) Out of Fairy Tales, and (iv) Sundae Ice Cream.

Prizes for the various events were presented by Ms R. Bose to the winners, all smiles and flushed with victory.

It was then the turn of Classes 5 & 6

to present their drill Rise Up! during which golden and turquoise kites gleamed and flitted across the sky. The yoga and drill routines made the audience marvel at how almost 300 children could manage the straight lines and formations without any on-field direction or supervision at all.

Next on the card were the B Division races (Classes 6–8): After We’re Sacked came the skipping race (girls), and flat races. In the relay race, the runners not only showed superb coordination in the passing of the batons, but also true sporting spirit – the winners and losers hugging each other at the end.

Cheers and enthusiastic applause kept the adrenalin flowing and spirits high as Ms M. Dasgupta gave away the prizes.

For their drill Hoopla Hooray, Classes 7 & 8 jogged onto the field in a glow of

Garden High Athletic Meet 2012

colours, rotating gigantic hoops with effortless skill to the strains of Colonel Bogey’s March and Funky Town. Then 16 gymnasts leapfrogged and formed pyramids, holding their hoops aloft in a 5-circle pattern – Olympic style – representing the five continents; a banner with Satikanta Guha Foundation written on it was held up; and the children formed the letters SKGF on the field.Classes 9–12 then took up positions for the A Division field events: flat races (Boys & Girls) and relay races (Boys & Girls). After the Inter-Division relay, the final event in this category, came the events for office and service staff. Ms M. Dasgupta provided some leading-from-the-front management skills when she joined the ladies service staff event and egged them on to a photo finish!

The award of each individual prize, presented by Ms B. Ghoshal, was greeted with loud cheers and clapping.

An interesting karate display with high kicks and breaking of several layers of tiles followed, the highlight of which was Sohom Ghosh of 8D breaking a layer of tiles in a flying tackle over five prone pupils. The pupils also demonstrated various self-defence skills, and the agility required of learners.

The Houses then returned to the field for the prize distribution:

Best Athlete B Div (Boys):Somdyuti Das Adhikari 7D (Oak)Best Athlete B Div (Girls):Arian Hoque 8D (Oak)Best Athlete A Div (Boys):Divas Raut 12A (Chinar) & Swastik Das 9B (Palm)

Best Athlete A Div (Girls):Koushani Datta 9F (Oak)

Palm House erupted when it was declared the winner of the March Past trophy. Cedar won a comparatively quiet Best Disciplined House prize. But the loudest cheers came from Oak House when it was awarded both the Relay and the Overall Best Performance prizes.

These prizes were given away by Ms B. Ghoshal, Mr T. K. Gopalan, Mr J. Dasgupta and Ms M. Dasgupta.

The Headmistress, Ms R. Biswas, who had planned and organized the Meet, encouraged and bullied staff and pupils for more than two months into presenting this wonderful event, then came forward to give a Vote of Thanks.

The Meet ended with the singing of the National Anthem.

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When: 15 August 2012

A special morning assembly was organized in the Bus Bay to celebrate India’s 66th Independence Day.The Indian tricolour was hoisted by Ms S. Sarkar, marking the commencement of the programme.The first item was the song Ay Mere Pyare Vatan by Sarbajit Dutta 8D, accompanied by Chandramantha Sen 10D, Aishwarya Sen 10B, and Boudhayan Sarkar 7E. Mr G. Sen was on the keyboard.Shourya Bari 12B and Aishee Ganguly 11C then spoke on the history of Indian Independence and its contemporary relevance. This was followed by the recitation of patriotic poems by Shourya Bari 12B, Kopai Chakraborty 9D, Atmadeep Sengupta 9A, and Sayantan Mukhopadhyay 9C. Ms S. Chakraborty, one of our music teachers, enthralled the audience with her rendition of Vande Mataram, accompanied by Mr A. Halder on the keyboard. The programme concluded with the National Anthem.

Observance of Independence Day

When: 6–20 October 2012Reciprocating the visits of teachers from London Nautical School and Ebor Gardens Primary School as part of the Global School Partnerships, funded by DFID and managed by the British Council, two teams of GHS teachers visited the two UK partner schools.

Ms R. Biswas and Ms S. Bhat were at Ebor Gardens Primary School in Leeds from 6–13 Oct. As gifts for the pupils and teachers of Ebor Gardens, they carried with them various items of handicraft made by the GHS pupils.During the interactive session with the Year Six pupils, the teachers were asked about GHS, as well as the city and the country they belonged to. The significance of each gift was explained to them through a PowerPoint presentation.

Stop I:

Visit to UKAfter their teacher had explained the concept of geometrical symmetry to them, the pupils tried their hand at drawing rangoli patterns. Ms Biswas gave them lessons in basic spoken Bengali, and Ms Bhat a practical demonstration of how to make samosas and nankhatai.Next day, the GHS teachers were taken on a visit to the Royal Armouries, a British National Museum of arms and armour used by various countries of the world through the centuries, among which was the largest animal armour – that worn by elephants in the 1600s in India. The audiovisual display on Emperor Akbar’s empire aroused keen interest, and as a part of the cultural exchange programme, the pupils were given the script and photographs of a skit on Akbar and Birbal that had been enacted by the pupils of Class 5 of GHS.The GHS team also observed a Physical Education class and a special assembly on a harvest festival.

Ms R. Biswas and Ms S. Bhattacharya were at the London Stop II:

Nautical School from 13–20 Oct. After they had been welcomed by the Headmaster, Mr H. Dastagir, they visited various departments like the Art Department and the Design & Technology Department. The Drama class was specially interesting, for its aim was to teach pupils how to develop a play in stages – from an idea presented as a tableau to one with action and words. The GHS teachers also watched regular classes, and what they found striking was the emphasis given to group discussions and critical thinking.The GHS team and the Year Seven pupils also went on excursions to the Museum of London and the Canary Wharf, where the boys receive lessons in sailing and kayaking.The visits have given the GHS teams many ideas about how to make classroom teaching more interesting and creative.It is hoped that this kind of partnerships will be continued and more projects undertaken and shared.

When: 17 August 2012Where: HexagonOrganizer: CISCE, New DelhiMotion: Technology has changed the way I view the world. The debate was closely contested, the speakers defending their views eloquently and passionately, with a good measure of humour thrown in. Participating schools: Julien Day School, Modern High School for Girls, G.D. Birla Centre for Education, Loreto House, St. James’ School, Hill Top School (Jamshedpur), Delhi Public School (New Town), Our Lady Queen of the Missions, La Martiniere (Boys)Judges: Dr Debanjan Chakrabarti, Ms Sidonie Urmila Parashar, Ms Krishna Nandy

Inter-School Competitions

Moderator: Mr Kushal Biswas Best Speaker: Ishan Chatterjee, La Martiniere (Boys)Best Team: La Martiniere (Boys)

GHS was represented by Rajoshi Ghorai 12A and Dorothy Deb 11C in the corresponding debate at the G. D. Birla Centre for Education.

The Frank Anthony Memorial All-IndiaInter-School Debate Championship 2012

When: 28 September 2012Where: DPS Ruby ParkOrganizer: DPS Ruby ParkParticipants: 12 schools besides GHS

GHS participated in three main events – Chorus, Young Chef, and Magic with Paper (Origami).The Chorus team of Jayabrata Chanda 1A, Anoushka Sen 1A, Nirjar Datta 1B, Mahi Dutta 1B, Sreemonti Majumdar 1C, Konkona Kundu 1C, Aditya Bose 1D, Procheta Neogi 1D, Aishani Som 1E, and Anchit Sengupta 1F, with Mr R. Guha on the keyboard, gave abeautiful rendition of Every Tiny Star.The Young Chefs team of Anurag Biswas 1D and Mehulee Sarkar 1F, whipped up a savoury, Cheesy Delight, and a colourful mocktail, Fruity Fun.The Origami team of Sarika Banerjee1A and Samya Bose 1C produced an attractive aquarium with brightly coloured paper and pastels.GHS won the second prize in the Chorus group. The winning participants were given books and certificates while all the participants were given certificates of participation.

Abhivyakti: An Inter-School Fest When: 5 December 2012

Where: South City International SchoolOrganizer: Institute of Ideas (UK) and British Council Participants: Aritra Basu 11A, Sagnik Sarkar 11C, Dorothy Deb 11C, Rohit Chakraborty 11C, Aishee Ganguly 11C, with Ms T. Dasgupta as Teacher-Coordinator

The pupils took part in an Online Elimination Test in October, and after beating 200-odd schools in the Eastern Region, were seeded third amongst the 12 schools that qualified for the Regional Finals. Sagnik Sarkar received a prize for asking the best question from the floor.

Debating Matters India

TCS IT WizWhen: 9 August 2012Where: KalamandirOrganizer: TCSEleven teams from GHS, each comprising two students, participated in the event.

St Lawrence Platinum Jubilee Inter-School Debate When: 10 August 2012Where: St. Lawrence SchoolOrganizer: SLOBA Motion: Tradition hinders progress in modern society.Rohit Chakraborty and Dorothy Deb, both of 11C, represented GHS in the final round.

Don Bosco Annual Jubilee QuizWhen: 16 August 2012Where: Don Bosco, Park CircusBesides the host school, Delhi Public School (Ruby Park), Birla High School (Boys), Modern High School for Girls, GHS and others participated in the quiz.GHS was represented by Sarbajit Dutta 8D, Swastik Sanyal 7E, Arnesh Sengupta 7D, and Anushka Bhattacharyya 7E at the Middle School level. The Senior School team comprised Rajoshi Ghorai 12A, Titir De 10D, Bodhijit Biswas 10D, and Ritika Pal Chaudhuri 10D.

The ASISC (WB Chapter) Literary Event 2012When: 24 August 2012Where: The Bhawanipur Education SocietyEvents: Declamation, Creative Writing, and DebateParticipating schools included the hosts, GHS, DPS (New Town), DPS (Megacity), National Gems Higher Secondary School, Saifee Hall, Pratt Memorial, Julien Day School, and Our Lady Queen of the Missions.Pratyusha Maiti 10A won the 1st Runner-Up prize in the Junior Debate, and Dorothy Deb 11C the first prize in the Senior Debate.

When: 28 September 2012Where: The Heritage School

This event for the middle school children included Creative Writing and Elocution competitions in English, Bengali and Hindi, and a Literary Quiz. Participating schools included Sri Sri Academy, St James’ School, Modern High School for Girls, and The Heritage.Debadrita Sur 7B won the firstprize for Creative Writing (Bengali).

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Sanglaap

BBC News School Report

The BBC News School Report was a project sponsored by BBC News to develop the journalistic skills of young people in schools. 60 teachers and 200 pupils were trained in interview-ing, editing, and presentation skills for reporting news through different media, i.e. producing written, audio, or video newsreports.The GHS core team consisted of Samriddha Basu 10A, Megha Chakrabarti 10A, Ruchira Singh 10B, Madhubrata Bhattacharyya 10B, and Ms P. Ghosh as the Teacher-Coordinator.GHS was one of the 10 schools from the East Zone that were invited to attend a workshop conducted by the BBC in collaboration with the British Council on 3 December 2011. Thereafter, the pupils were required to make video presentations on various

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When: 8 August 2012Where: Bus BayParticipants: Classes 4–6

Team A: Abhrajit Bhattacharyya 4B, Srinjay Mukherjee 5A, Arunava Gantait 6ATeam B: Ishan Dasgupta 4B, Oishik Banerjee 5B, Ankan Nath 6BTeam C: Adreesh Joarder 4G, Srija Gharami 5D, Soham Ghosh 6CTeam D: Padmanabha Sarkar 4D, Atreya Choudhury 5D, Soumyadeep Nandi 6DTeam E: Rounak Chatterjee 4E,Anushka Mitra 5E, Rai Chakrabarti 6ETeam F: Abhigyan Bhattacharya 4F, Upanita Barman 5F, Anubhav Goswami 6FWinners: 1st – Team B2nd – Team E3rd – Team A

Panel Discussion: Eurozone CrisisWhen: 7 December Where: HexagonCommerce and Economics pupils of Classes 9 & 10 participated in a panel discussion and PowerPoint presentation on the ripple effect of the Eurozone Crisis as part of the British Council International School Award (ISA). This was followed by an interactive session with a resource person, Mr D. Saha (GHS), a group discussion and a quiz.

Following the Global Citizens’ Summitin Bhubaneswar in January 2012, attended by Ms T. Roy Chowdhury and 3 GHS pupils, 2 competitions were organized in May 2012 to make pupils aware of the Global Citizens’ Club and to select a logo for it.

Poster Drawing CompetitionBesides making pupils aware of the Club, the aim was to help them discover their talents and share their experiences with their counterparts from other schools and so, become Global Citizens.Winners: 1st – Upanita Barman 5F2nd– Atralita Saha 4G3rd – Indrakshi Roy 5D

Logo CompetitionSubject: Designing a logo for the ClubWinners:1st – Aritro Ghosh 10C2nd– Shreyangshi Raha 9F3rd – Yudhajeet Basak 11BJudges: Ms N. Ghosh Bej and Mr S. Nandi.

Global Citizens’ Club

Maggi Quiz Competition

topics on the BBC website throughout 2012. The first of these was on the humanitarian work done to help stray and abandoned dogs near GHS, and interviews with Ms K. Guha and Ms S. Mitra, both of whom are actively involved in such work, were of immense help to the reporters.The second report, which had to be on a subject of national or international importance, was on the maltreatment the Jarawa tribe was subjected to by tourists.For the third report, on the 2012 Olympics, the pupils conducted a telephonic interview with the ace Indian shooter, Joydeep Karmakar.

The last phase of the project was an assembly aptly named What Matters to Me that gave pupils an opportunity to express their thoughts and views on things they considered important, like freedom of expression and the liberty to pursue their goals and ambitions.The project concluded with an awards ceremony at Mumbai, at which 8 schools received various awards. The hard work and long hours put in by the GHS team and its coordinator earned them a Certificate of Excellence. Ms P. Ghosh received it on behalf of the GHS team from Ms Sam Harvey, Director, West India, British Council.

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Tell-a-Tale

Model Making

Vernacular Elocution

When: 20 July 2012Where: HexagonParticipants: Class 3Judges: Ms K. Guha, Ms R. Bose and Mr J. DasguptaWinners:1st – Taurai Saha 3D (Oak)2nd– Zubin Ghosh 3D (Chinar) 3rd – Soham Dutta 3A (Chinar)

When: 27 July 2012Where: HexagonParticipants: Classes 7 & 8Judges: Mr S. Nandi, Ms N Ghosh BejWinners:1st – Chinar2nd – Oak3rd – Chinar

When: 3 August 2012Where: HexagonParticipants: Class 3Judges: Ms R. Bose, Ms A. Mukhopa-dhyay Maiti and Ms P. Basu DasguptaCategory: BengaliWinners:1st – Ahana Ray 3A (Palm)2nd – Samadrita Guchhait 3D (Oak)3rd – Samadrita Ghosal 3A (Oak)Category: HindiWinners:1st – Taurai Saha 3D (Oak)2nd – Chandrayee Kumar 3B (Oak)3rd – Kaashvi Gupta 3B (Cedar)

Inter-HouseCompetitions

K U D O S !

Sagnik Sarkar 11C was presented the Mamraj Agarwal Rashtriya Puraskar on 25 August 2012 by the Governor of West Bengal, Mr M. K. Narayanan, for his outstanding performance in ICSE 2012.

Priyanka Ray 7A was second in both the 100m and 50m Breast Stroke in the Calcutta District Sub-Junior & Junior Swimming Championship 2012 held from 10–13 May 2012.She came in third in the 100m Breast Stroke, and was a member of the team that won the 4 × 50m Medley Relay. She was representing Kolkata in the All Bengal State Age Group Swimming Meet held from 7–10 June 2012.Priyanka was ranked third in the 2nd GCM Inter-Club Age-Group Swimming Championship held in Malaysia in June 2012. She was second in the 100m and 200m Breast Stroke, and third in the 50m Breast Stroke in the Inter-School Swimming Competition organized by the South Kolkata District Council on 19 June 2012.

Shubharthi Talukdar 11A was ranked first in the Boys (14 Years & Above) Brown II to Black Belt Kumaite category in the 20th Inter-School / College Gojukai Karate-Do Tournament 2012 held on 11 August 2012.He was third in the same category for the Black Belt.

Jyotishka Basu 3B won an appreciation award of `100 for his painting published in the Art Gallery of the September issue of The Children’s Magazine, Kochi. He donated the money to GHS.

Dorothy Deb 11C was selected by the Association of Schools for the Indian School Certificate (ASISC) to represent West Bengal in the ASISC National Debate, Declamation & Creative Writing Competition held on 12 October 2012.

Teachers’ Workshops

When: 30 July 2012Where: St. Thomas’ ChurchConductor: Dr Champaknath AttavarTopic: Mathematics and ScienceOrganizer: Orient Blackswan Pvt LtdParticipants from GHS: Ms T. Sen & Ms S. ChakrabortyThe workshop highlighted the activity-based aspects of teaching Mathematics and Science and suggested appropriate methods to deal with the challenges of teaching these subjects in school.

Higher Studies in USAWhen: 4 October 2012Where: HexagonMr Romesh Banerjee of IndUS Education made a presentation to pupils of Class 12 on various aspects of undergraduate studies in the USA.

When: 17 July 2012Where: Presidency UniversityOrganizer: Presidency UniversityThe Science Club of Presidency University organized a seminar on The Discovery of the Higgs Boson and its Scientific Implications. The pupils of Classes 11A & B attended.

We warmly welcome the following members of staff to the GHS family:

Joyita Bose Mathematics

Aparajita Roy Economics

Suromita Kanjilal Bengali

Sudipta Bhowmik Bengali

Nibedita Ghosh Office

Snehasish De Office

Welcome

When: 8 December 2012Where: Jamuna BanquetsConductor: Ms Lorraine MirzaTopic: MathematicsOrganizer: MacmillanParticipants from GHS: Ms K. Manek, Ms B. Dasgupta, Ms I. Bhattacharya, Ms S. Mukherjee, Ms T. SarkarThe workshop focused on how to use websites and objects from immediate surroundings to make Mathematics interesting to pupils.

Career Counselling

Science Seminar

India Science &Environment Meet 2012When: 4 August 2012Where: Central Glass & Ceramic Research InstituteOrganizer: Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute and Millennium Institute of Energy & Environment ManagementBudhaditya Chowdhury 12A took part in the Poster Display competition.

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A Visit to the Indian MuseumWhen: 24–27 July 2012Participants: Classes 5 & 6

Classes 5 and 6, accompanied by their Class Teachers and 3 other teachers, visited the Indian Museum in batches. They toured the five main sections of the Museum, the first being the Archaeological Section. The main attraction of the Egyptian Gallery was a 4000-year-old mummy. The exhibits included many ancient sculptures of pharaohs, Egyptian gods and goddesses, and the Sphinx, as also paintings and hieroglyphs.The next stop was the Bharhut Gallery, which houses the articles that were excavated in Bharhut (Madhya Pradesh) in 1874. The exhibits included the railings and gateways of a Buddhist stupa, with carvings and sculptures depicting scenes from Lord Buddha’s life, and engravings in the Brahmi script.The pupils found the Coin Gallery very interesting, for the exhibits included a collection of rare Indian coins. There were punch-marked coins, and coins issued by emperors like Kanishka, Samudragupta, and Kumaragupta I. Gold and silver coins used during the reigns of Sultan Mahmud, Sher Shah, Akbar, and Jahangir, copper coins from the time of Tipu Sultan as well as coins of the British period were on display.In the Gandhara Gallery, sculptures from the Gandhara region, including one of the best collections of Buddhist sculptures, were on display, and in the Minor Art Gallery the pupils saw ornaments, pottery, wooden sculptures, Stone Age artefacts and

antiquities from the Indus Valley Civilization.The models in the Palaeoanthropologi-cal Gallery (Anthropological Section) gave the pupils an insight into the evolution of man. The Cultural Gallery contained items like costumes, ornaments, implements of various Indian tribes, and colourful masks, mainly of mythological characters, from different parts of India.The Painting Gallery of the Art Section contained Mughal miniatures, Kalighat patas, scrolls, and manuscripts. There was a separate section dedicated to the paintings by eminent artists from Bengal. The Geological Section included the Tavertebrate Fossil Gallery, the most attractive inhabitant being an enormous skeleton of a dinosaur. Several other skeletons on display included those of other prehistoric animals as well as one of a giant crocodile and one of an enormous tortoise. There also were a number of unique fossils.In the Rock and Mineral Gallery, pupils saw meteorites, precious stones, rocks, minerals, and fossils.The final section visited was the Zoological Section, rich with innumerable specimens of insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, stuffed birds, and a skeleton of a mammoth – all housed in four different galleries: Fish, Bird, Mammal, and Ecology.It was a wonderful experience for the pupils to actually see the things they had read about in their textbooks. It was as if the past had come alive before their eyes.

Ongoing Activities

31 Jul & 8 Aug: Nursery 1 & 2 watched Chhota Bheem.

5 Dec: The Missionaries of Charity collected the Christmas gifts given by pupils for their less fortunate brothers and sisters.

14 Dec: Charlie Chaplin’s Monsieur Verdoux was screened for Class 12.

17 Dec: Nursery 2 watched Tom & Jerry cartoons.

18 Dec: Preparatory watched the film, Air Buddies.

19 Dec: Class 3 watched Jungle Book. 20 Dec: Class 7 watched 101

Dalmatians. The Sound of Music was screened for Class 5.

21 Dec: Nursery 1 watched Tom & Jerry cartoons, Class 4 Dr Dolittle, and Class 6 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

When: 21 December 2012Nursery & Preparatory pupils had a class party with goodies brought from home.Classes 1 & 2 showed off their culinary skills by making Aloo Masala Muri and Mazedar Chana Tikka.

Classroom Parties

Chief Editor: Kavita Guha Editor: Nibedita GhoshReporters: Aishee Ganguly 11C, Samriddha Basu 10A, Megha Chakrabarti 10A, Ruchira Singh 10B, Madhubrata Bhattacharyya 10B

Design & Layout: Kaushik Ghosh Design Advisors: Prabir Sen, Krishnendu ChakiPrinted at LaserWorld, Kolkata

When: 12 October 2012 Where: AnnexeIt was that time of the year again when the autumn air would soon be filled with the fragrance of dhoop and dhuno. The tiny tots of Nursery I greeted the Puja season with a delight-ful programme of dance and music. Ma Durga (Ashmita Mandal N1D) and her children, Lakshmi (Deveshi Ghosha N1A), Saraswati (Aishani Basu N1C), Kartik (Sparsh Lohia N1B), and Ganesh (Arhan Das Gupta N1B), and even a prone Asura (Aditya Das N1E) were treated to a recital of dances by Mananya Muhury, Saanvi Padhi, Barnita Paul (N1A); Radhika Asthana, Ahana Majumder, Sudiksha Banerjee, Iravati Mukherjee (N1B); Avantika

Puja Special

Ghosh, Ritvika Das, Atmaja Mandal (N1C); Eesheeka Ray Chaudhuri, Shree Banerjee, Sunayani Chowdhury (N1D); and Soumily Chaudhuri, Sriya Saha, Ankita Meikup, Kahkashaan Nambiar (N1E).They danced to Pujo Esheche, Dhitang Dhitang Bole, and O Aay Re Chhute Aay, sung with full-throated enthusiasm by all the pupils of Nursery 1 to Class 2.The dhaakis – Arya Gupta, Rehan Bose, Sachit Agarwal (N1A); Abhirup Roy, Tamoghna Mondal, Rajarshi Thakur, Arinjay Banerjee (N1B); Aryadip Biswas, Arhan Mandal (N1C); Aandre Halder, Aisheeq Dasgupta (N1D); Pragyan Ghosh (N1E) – then danced to the beat of their own dhaaks, accompanied by the popular and foot-

tapping Dhaker Taale. The Divine Family also witnessed a skit based on an extract from Rabindranath’s Pujor Saaj. The cast: Ma – Avipsa Ghosh N1C; Baba – Aviraj Barua N1E; Madhu – Nishant Das N1A; Bidhu – Soham Chakraborty N1D.Amidst all the fun and frolic, the Pujarinis – Snehin Ray N1C, Syona Mallick N1C, Deyasini Mitter N1D, and Utpalaksh Basu N1A – did not forget to worship the deities with fragrant incense.The show ended with each deity offering us advice on how to lead a good and healthy life. Asura, too, had some positive counsel to offer.After the tiny tots, Class 2 had another dance to offer. The village girls – Ahana Majumdar 2B, Chandreyee Sarkar 2A, Ishana Khan 2C, Harshita Roy 2F, Dishari Chowdhury 2D, Sneha De 2E, Olivia Bagchi 2E – danced to the song Gouri Elo sung by the entire junior section, and the beat of the dhaaks played by Trishanjit Chatterjee 2F, Rwishav Chakraborty 2E, Rajarshi Datta 2D, Shreesh Roy 2A, and Gaurav Shah 2B.Witnessing this outstanding display was the Divine Family of Gouri (Ayushee Nag 2D), Shiva (Sahil Mukherjee 2A), Kartik (Ritam Dutta 2C), Ganesh (Sheersho Bhakto 2C), Lakshmi (Shivangi Singh 2F), and Saraswati (Ishika Debnath 2E), accom-panied by Asura (Aditya Singh 2B).

When: 20 & 21 December 2012Where: AnnexeThe spirit of Christmas was evident in the way the little ones of Nursery 1 to Preparatory assembled in the morning, wearing red and green hats with Christmas-tree headbands, which they had made themselves, and the way they sang, in succession, Jingle Bells, Deck the Hall, Joy to the World, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Then came Santa with a sack full of goodies. The sweets that poured out of the sack thrilled the children.Classes 1 & 2 started on a more serious note, each presenting a short play. The True Meaning of Christmas by

Christmas Carols

Class 1 had a teacher asking her pupils to share their thoughts on Christmas. The Class 2 play explained what some objects like holly, myrrh, frankincense,

and bells, associated with Christmas, mean. Then Santa was ushered in with Here Comes Santa Claus, Joy to the World and a host of other carols.