Cultural Exrtravaganza at Podar World School, Sherkhi, Vadodara.
Podar World School, Sherkhi, organized its 9th Annual Function, 'Tarangini - Rivers the Lifelines' on 24th January, 2019, between 3:00p.m and 6:00 p.m. at Sir Sayajinagar Gruh, Akota, Vadodara. The Chief Guest was Dr Jigisha Sheth, the Mayor of Vadodara. Other special guests who adorned the function were the Principal of Podar World School, Sama, Ms Rekha Shah, Principal of Maneja, Ms Michelle Ganeshani, Principal of New Era Secondary School, Ms Leena Nair, Principal of Anand Vidya Vihar, Ms Poornima Menon, Principal of Gujarat Public School, Ms Beena Prashant, Headmistress of Podar Jumbo Kids, Sherkhi, Ms Deepti Ratanpal, Headmistress of Podar Jumbo Kids, Sama, Ms Sampada Palkar, Headmistress of Podar Jumbo Kids, Vasna, Ms Poonam Ex-Principal of Podar, Sherkhi, Ms Revathi Shankar, Ex- Coordinator of Podar World School, Sherkhi, Ms Nayana Rastogi and the invited parents and their kith and kin of the students. By 2.45 p.m. the hall was packed and everyone sat holding their breath to witness the cultural extravaganza.
The theme of the program was to state the present dismal condition of our rivers and the rivers stating their mythological significance themselves personified. The theme was conceptualized and ideas given threadbare by the Principal and every care was taken to highlight the gravity of the problem of water crisis faced by the world and cautioning against it, if proper steps were not taken timely. The play begins, takes it course and ends with with intermittent pieces of conversations going on between Narad Muni and the Trimurti, Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar about the reputed Podar World School, Sherkhi and the exemplary show put forth by its excellent and talented students as their school play, which focuses on the condition of the rivers of India. The rivers like Narmada, Brahmaputra, Kaveri, Yamuna, Ganga and Sabarmati were taken and as a part of entertainment the cultural diversity in the performing arts or any mythological significance of the rivers and of the states by which they flow was depicted through Gujarat's Garba, Assam's Bihu, Tamilnadu's Bharatnatyam, Lord Krishna's 'Kaliya Mardan' on the banks of river Yamuna, the grandeur 'Ganga Aarti' on the river Ganga through a dance performance and finally back to Gujarat, coming to river Sabarmati that was a live witness to all benevolent and selfless activities of our 'Father of Nation', Mahatma Gandhi was shown through the Dandi March and his favourite song. The finale was attained through a Fashion Show depicting the beauty of the green, fragrant and colourful earth and then its transformation into a desolate, choking concrete jungle due to man's greed for modernization or urbanization.
The program started on time, the anchor for the day, Ms Nidhi Sarvaiya, extended a warm welcome to the honorable Chief Guest, Ms Jigisha Sheth, the Mayor of Vadodara, the Principal of Podar World School, Ms Preeta Pillai, and all other dignitaries who adorned the function including the parents. The National Anthem sung and recorded by students of Podar was played and all were instructed to rise at their places to show reverence to the same. Then the recorded message from the most reverend Chairman, Shri Raghav Podar was made to be heard to the esteemed audience. The enterprising leader, Ms Preeta Pillai was called upon to give the welcome address and introduction of the Chief Guest. She talked about the school's progress in different activities including the laurels won by the school for its excellent infrastructure, innovative practices and the award won by its luminary Chairman on January 19, 2019 for having bestowed with the 'Education Leader of the Year' for striving harder to set the bar of excellence higher and higher each time. She then introduced the Chief Guest, Ms Jigisha Sheth and enumerated her credentials. The Almighty was invoked through a shlok, sung by the dance teacher, Ms Palak Thakor and a prayer sung by a few students of class VII, VIII & IX orchestrated and prepared by their music teacher, Mr Rushi Brahmbhatt simultaneously when the lamp of knowledge was being lit by the Chief Guest, the host school Principal along with a few of the special guests. The Chief Guest then addressed the audience and talked in volumes about the school and the progress made by it in not only Curricular but also in extra curricular activities. She added that the school cannot be second to any other other school so long as the very Chairman and the Principal, Shri Raghav Podar and Ms Preeta Pillai respectively adorn the posts in all its respect continuously striving for higher goals keeping the children in perspective so that they spearhead a dynamic future. Then the recipients of the Vidya Maharshi Award for the year 2017-18 was awarded to Kumari Aparna Binu of class XII Sci for securing 91.6% and being one of the top 10 students from CBSE schools of Vadodara. Then the higher scorers of class X for 2017-18, Kumari Shruiti Sharan( 92.6% and Kumari Jhanvi Patel( 91.2%) were felicitated a shield engraved on it 'Vidya Maharshi Award'.
The actual program started with Saraswati Vandana, a classical performance by students of class II(all sections A,B & C) followed by a 'Tribute to Parents' through a retro dance with a remix of hits of the 70's and 80's songs, where children of class I attired in (girls) polka dot frocks and broad hair bands while boys in colourful shirts and bell bottom pants graced the stage. This was highly applauded by the parents as the classical hits of yester year did take them on a nostalgic ride down the memory lanes. The Ganpati Visarjan, in all its grandeur, a deep rooted tradition that pollutes our water reservoirs was shown by students of class VII which left the audience with goosebumps as the performance did create the ambience of the religious fervor in all its respect. Then highlighting the mythological origin and the significance of river Narmada in its own words followed by a performance on the amalgamation of 'Garba, Tippani & Dandiya Raas left the audience awestruck. The personified Brahmaputra river narrated its significance and took us to the tea gardens of Assam through a performance of Bihu dance by the students of class V. The brisk dance steps, the rapid movements in plucking the tender tea leaves and putting them in the cone shaped bamboo baskets hung at their backs and the rhythmic swaying of the hips in order to represent youthful passion, in the traditional attire of the Assamese left the audience applauding for quite some time even after the dancers left the stage. The Yamuna river, supposed to be the most polluted and in fact one of the fast dying rivers shared her personal woes and the fact that she was polluted even in the times of Gods and Goddesses by the venom of the serpent Kaliya, followed by the Kaliya Mardan performance of Shri Krishna and the gopals and gopikas by students of class III. Again the audience were enthralled by the performance. Then the river Kaveri took the audience to witness an aspect of cultural feast through the performance of Bharatnatyam by students of class VI to IX. The origin of river Ganga and its versatility was brought through the performance of a Bhava Nrutya by students of class IV. The performance of students of class VIII & IX on the song 'Har Har Gange' depicting the importance of river Ganga for its locals through the grandeur of their traditional aarti by lighting myriad lamps and floating it into the rivers was indeed a feast to the eyes as shared by a few parents. The performance of 'Namo Namah Je Shankara ' in the UV dance style depicting the devotion to Lord Shiva and Shiva Mahima performed by students of V to VIII, left the audience applauding, whistling and hooting and with requests of 'once more' for quite some time. The anchor, Ms Nidhi Sarvaiya indeed had a tough time silencing them to proceed further with the program. The Nukkad Natak highlighted the problem of pollution and sensitized against polluting our water reservoirs and to economize the use of water staged by the students of class V. Then taking back the audience to river Sabarmati and the ashram on its bank where many of the activities were planned by our Bapu where the ashram was also the initial point of the famous and historical Dandi March. The glimpses of these were shown at the backdrop of the song, ...... Sabarmati ke sant tune kar diya kamaal... followed by the performance on the song, 'Bande me tha dum' by students of class IV to VI. The finale was covered by 'Srushti', a fashion show depicting the elements of Nature in its pristine form performed by the students of class VII to XII. The performance by the stakeholders of the school, the parents, titled 'Ghammariya' added colour to the students' performance and strengthened the tripartite bond of teacher-student-parent, besides setting an example of good parenting by being positive of any activity that their children involve in. Then the closing narration calling the whole school starting from the teachers of the Primary, Secondary and Higher secondary sections to the stage followed by the admin staff and finally the supporting pillar of the school, the Principal strode forth with a few tiny tots and escorted by the volunteer students for a short performance on the stage. Thanking speech was read by Narad Muni(Parthiv patel of Class X) wherein he the thanked the Management foremost and the Principal of Podar World School, Sherkhi and everyone who have in one way or another pitched in their bit to make this event a great success.
