Class Recap March 17th ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents,

It was a cold Sunday morning today. We had very low attendance as well. Nevertheless we started with our usual enthusiasm and energy. After our morning chants and meditation, we continued with our story.
Rama announced the battle with Ravana. The vanar sena marched towards the beautiful city of  Lanka. The grand city was going to get destroyed by the war between the two parties.One after the other rakshas came to fight and everybody got defeated by the great vanar sena. Ultimately Ravana came into the battlefield but lost his chariot, crown and weapons fighting with Rama. Rama was so kind and fair that he granted Ravana to leave the battle field and come back the next day after taking rest and getting new weapons. Ravana was terrified and thought that only Kumbhkarna could save him and Lanka. Kumbhkarna was awaken from his slumber. The students really enjoyed the description of how Kumbkarna was woken up. Once he was awake he came to know Ravana's deeds. He said to Ravana that he had done wrong by abducting Rama's wife by force. But since Ravana was his brother he agreed to help him. He went to the battlefield and destroyed and killed many vanaras. But at the end he could not stand the power of Sri Rama and died.

After the story we all marched around the class chanting and screaming " Long live Rama" and "Victory to Rama". We jumped and hopped like monkeys and pretended to uproot trees and boulders while we marched. We also pretended that we were Kumbkarana and woke up with loud roar.

Today we reviewed the pages of our coloring book. We looked at the map and discussed the trail that Rama had taken from Ayodhya to Lanka. We also looked at the drawings in each chapter and discussed various incidents that occurred throughout the story.

We sang "Atma Nivasi Ram". We finished with aarti and pledge. There will be no balvihar class for next two weeks. We will see you on April 7th. Thank You.

Class Recap March 10th ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

 Hari Om parents,

We started with breathing and screaming exercises to get rid of the yawning and sleepy look some children had. Since the clock advanced by an hour, this was expected. Also, the attendance was disappointing. Please try not to miss Balvihar classes. The kids are getting more familiar with the chanting of daily prayers and we do not want that to be broken with being absent.

After the chanting and meditation we plunged into the story of Ramayan. Rama with his able vanara army landed in Lanka. They were struck by the beauty and grandeur of the city and Rama was unhappy that the city was soon to be destroyed. But he was determined to get Sita back. Rama however decided to give one last chance to mighty Ravana to save his life by returning Sita and sent Angadha, son of Vali, to Ravana. Of course, the evil Ravana chose to face Rama and risk his life and the beautiful city. Ravana was also persuaded by his grandfather, Malyavan and his own ministers not to underestimate Rama and to make peace with him. But the wicked Ravana proceeded with arrangements for a battle and posted his warriors to guard the city-gates. He also had an evil plan to deceive Sita using his magical powers. He tricked Sita with a model of Ramas head  and to yield to him. The noble Sita just wept but soon became hopeful when she heard the blaring trumpets and the beating of the drums of the vanara army. Thus the two sides were all set to start the war. We concluded the story with the singing of Atma nivasi Ram. Students colored the pages and also marked the last paduka in the trail map of Rama.
There was assembly in the auditorium and the sixth graders were putting up a show, a skit from Mahabharata. It was grand, colorful and entertaining. A simple request at this juncture. Please do take your child for arati in the auditorium and never skip it. It is not a good example to set. Always factor in that extra 20 min in your schedule. Please register for Geetha chanting. Also, mark your calendar on May 5th. It is our annual day and children put up a grand show.

 Hari Om.

Class Recap March 3rd ( Ruchi and Rukmani)

Hari Om Parents and Guardians,

We had a great time today with loads of fun and excitement. Today we had almost a perfect attendance.We started with our usual chants and morning prayer followed by meditation. Before the meditation , students were asked what is meditation and why do we do it. Some of the answers we got were; We talk to God when we meditate, it helps to make us calm and quiet and it helps us to focus better so we can do a good job in our home work! Great answers.

Story time is becoming more and more interesting with each chapter. Today we heard that Rama finally got the news about Sita. The vanar sena assembled together and started their march towards Lanka. When they reached the seashore all of them were puzzled as to how to cross the mighty ocean. Finally the ocean God helped them and asked them to make the bridge. The construction of the bridge finally ended.

We all played the game where we pretended to be vanaras and marched with our groups chanting the name of Lord Rama all around the class. Every body enjoyed a lot and had lots of fun. In between we played the game of freeze so it was a loud chanting of Rama followed by pin drop silence.

One of our students chanted the Bhagwat Geeta shlokas.The rest of us followed him. We also talked about participating in the competition and decided to bring our medals (in the next class) from the previous competition to inspire everyone.

We colored our books quietly. We discussed the chapters in coloring book. Soon it was time to go home.

Take care and see you all next weekend.