Cultural Extravaganza at Podar World School, Sherkhi, Vadodara.
The vast sprawling Presidency club ground was the venue of the Annual Function for the academic year 2017-'18. A stage was set up on the left side of the ground with the required light and music arrangements. The periphery of the inner side of the stage was adorned with huge cut outs of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu of 'Dashavatar' made from thermocol as the very theme of the Annual Function was based on 'Evolution of Man', beginning with the five elements and moving further with 'Dashavtar', Early Stone Age, New Stone Age,Vedic Age, Gurukul Parampara including Guru-Shishya relationship, lost childhood in the modern age, women empowerment through depiction of a dance of Ashtalakshmi. Then there was a walk show portraying the encroachment of Digital Age revolutionizing every aspect of human life followed by the unique item of the day, a dance performance by the 'Parents' which was a remix of both a classical and western dance titled 'Main Hoon Naa' exactly promising to stand by the school in its hour of need. This was followed by the teachers’ entry along with their leader (Principal) holding high the Podar flag escorted by the student volunteers, anchors and all those who worked behind the scenes.
The Chief Guest for the function was Mr Saurabh Tolumbia, Superintendent of Police (Rural) along with his wife Mrs Nisha Sengar, a Professor at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Labour in Ahmedabad. Indeed a very wise couple who understands the untiring efforts put forth by the teachers not only in putting across the content in the best possible manner but also in managing a class that is highly informed with knowledge explosion and its impact on the child's temperament resulting in widening the gap of individual differences. They were all praise for the dynamic leaders and the dedicated teachers involved in moulding the citizens of the future.The Guest of Honour was Ms Rema Shrikant, an internationally renowned Bharatanatyam exponent, choreographer and a mentor who has been successfully running her Ellora Dance Academy having trained more than thousands of students for the last 45 years in Vadodara. She is the proud recipient of Gujarat Gautam Puraskaram Award and Kala Shree Award for the Kerala State. Madam Rema Shrikant believes in serving a nation by promoting its rich cultural heritage through the medium of Bharatantyam.
The program started at sharp 6:00 a.m. with the lighting of the lamp of knowledge by the Chief Guest, Mr Saurabh Tolumbia, the Guest of Honor, Ms Rema Shrikant accompanied by the vibrant and highly imaginative Principal, Ms Preeta Pillai. A shlok chanting by the music teacher, Ms Snehal Jani accompanied the auspicious lamp lighting followed by a prayer sung by the choir group. The anchors for the day were our two avid and beautiful students of class XII, Kumari Shirin Sam (the Head Girl) and Kumari Dhanvi Joshi. The prompter for the participants were Kumari Shruti Sharan (class X) and Kumari Shalie Yaduwad (class X) in English and Kumari Ayesha Khokhar (class X) in Hindi.
The Chief Guest and the Guest of Honour was welcomed and introduced in the welcome speech by the Principal while addressing the august gathering. She also extended a warm welcome to the seven teachers who were here as a part of student exchange program from Ladakh at Podar World School, Sama. She also briefed about the theme of the Annual function, 'YUGANTAR - SHIFTING PARADIGM '. She highlighted that through this theme, (in her own words) 'Yugantar - shifting paradigm' the purpose is to showcase the glaring shift from what was considered as attributes such as 'respectful',' gratitude', 'innocence' and 'unperturbed childhood' to what change has come now when there is hardly any space for aesthetics and ethics but everything is perceived from the materialistic point of view'. Certainly no comparison is made but a humble attempt is made to take you on a nostalgic ride down the lanes of eras to show what was there so that you may relate to what exists now. Then wishing a fruitful evening to the august gathering, she briefed her words and the program started. On the whole it was a wonderful program, another milestone in the history of Podar World School, Sherkhi, Vadodara.
