Ekadaksha's festivities are in full swing this year. As we all know, in India, once festivities begin, it never stops. It's one festival after the other giving everyone opportunities to be creative, get dressed up and develop a bond of togetherness.
Navratri at Ekadaksha indeed felt like a family function, wherein all the teachers and children got together to prepare for performances with a lot of creativity and enthusiasm. Nithya (A main teacher) and Ganga (A volunteer) got together to plan this whole event. They planned, coordinated and executed this amazing programme beautifully. As mentioned earlier and in the words of Ganga, "It was nothing less than a Family function". This is what we strive for - For all our staff and children to be one big family, for this community to be one big family - to unite and bring about a sea of change for those with special needs.
This year, every house group was given a theme which projected the significance of the festival of Navratri. The nine days of the festival involves the worshipping of the various Goddesses while the tenth day is dedicated to appreciating our Gurus. In this years peformances, while teachers narrated, each child was given a role based on their strengths and capabiliites. By doing so, we could see them perform independently and with great motivation. So let us take a look at the performances of each house.
The red house represented Goddess Durga and told the story of how She saved people from the evil asura (demon). Goddess Durga battled with the asura for nine days and finally on the tenth day, she got rid of him completely. This day is celebrated as Dussehra. Click here to see the performance of the red house - The story of Goddess Durga. Apart from our performance, if you would like to know the entire story, you can click this youtube link for your information.
The yellow house gave the significance of Goddess Lakshmi who represents Happiness, Wealth and Knowledge. One of the children was Goddess Lakshmi while the others showed pictures of her traits. Click here to see the perfomance of the yellow house - Representations of Goddess Lakshmi. To know a little more about Goddess Lakshmi click this link.
The blue house gave a performance based on Goddess Saraswathi, the Goddess of education and knowledge,to show all the art forms in India. This included forms of traditional crafts, sports as well as professions. There is a famous Tamil saying 'Aaya Kalaigal 64' which means that differnet forms of art exist and its is Goddess Saraswathi who blesses people with unique talents. Click here to see the performance of the blue house - The different Art forms. Art forms in India are extremely wide spread. While we have adopted many modern methods, the traditional arts and methods in various professions continue to be a part of our heritage and existence. A quick link to the the significance of Goddess Saraswathi during Navratri is right here.
The green house showed us the importance of Our Gurus - Our Teachers who have given us the knowledge to become what we are today. They have provided us with guidance to be victorious in our lives. This victory is celebrated during vijayadasmi. On this day we pray to all those who improved our knowledge and make sure we begin our wonderful journeys in different professions. The children showcased teachers in different fields who are honoured by their students. Click here to see the performance of the green house - The importance of our Gurus.
The children of Ekadaksha learnt all about Navratri pujas and blessings through their wonderful performances. What the children gained was indeed what Navratri is all about:
*Victory and confidence to use their strengths
*Happiness to be appreciated
*Education about the festival and how to be a part of a huge function
*Respecting themselves and their Gurus.
The day concluded with a thanking note and an invocation to all our Gurus. A few more pictures which cannot be missed - Click here. Thus, with the blessings of Goddess Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswathi and that of our Gurus as well, one can lead their lives in the right path, gaining victory and winning over all evils.
