Grandparents' Day is celebrated with the intention of moving ahead with a goal of nurturing our children as happy, respectful, understanding and responsible citizens. Grandparents play an imperative role in the life of every child. They are the child’s support and their best friend. Grandparents pamper the kids more than the parents themselves and leave a lasting impression in child’s life. So it’s time to felicitate and honour the grandparents. The school's decision to celebrate Grandparents' Day is expected to bring about a positive change in the outlook of the present generation.
More than 30 to 40 grandparents turned up for the event and they were welcomed with flowers and with a ceremonial 'tikka' on their forehead by studens of clas XII at the entrance and were ushered into the venue (the atelier) and led them to their seats. The function began at 10.15 a.m. with their grandchildren felicitating them with flowers.The comperer for the day was Ms Dolly Patel, Primary Coordinator . Then Principal, Ms Preeta Pillai was called upon to extend a warm welcome to the august gathering of senior citizens. Seeing the atelier filled with grandparents she said that these children whose grandparents have gathered are indeed very fortunate to have them. She talked about one Iyer’s grandparent who called her up the previous day to talk about how much he is involved in the upbringing of his grandchild and that it seemed as if the duty of grandparents never come to an end. They were there as parents dedicated in rearing their children and now they are fortunate to relive those moments again bringing up their grandchildren as their parents are busy in their jobs. She in her usual cordial yet dignified way said in her welcome speech that since many parents prefer nuclear families, children do not learn to value the presence of their grandparents. So the schools have started such a programme since last few years to let grandparents enjoy their share of togetherness in the family along with their grandchildren. She talked about the threats posed by the social media on children and how significant becomes the role of grandparents at home to take utmost care of the children who have been entrusted under their care. She briefed her words saying that everyday is a ‘Grandparents’Day’ as their contribution in the family is insurmountable.
Then a few students of class VI, VII & VIII gifted their grandparents with open palm colourful prints of their grandparents and the grandchild while students of class IV & V gifted their parents with their(grandparents’) snaps pasted in handmade photo frames. Then there was ‘Poem Recital’ by a few students of class I,II &III on their grandparents. They were judged by one of the Coordinators on their ability to memorise, rhythm, timing and confidence. Then a speech in Hindi was delivered by Kumari Yajusha Nair of class IX expressing her views about her grandparents, followed by Kumari Meesha Sharma of class XII in English. Both talked about the great roles played by their grandparents in their upbringing as they stay with their grandparents.
A few games were organized jointly to be played by the children along with their grandparents. They were ‘sucking pulses with a straw both by the child and his/her grandparent and putting into an empty bowl.It was fun to see both the young and old sucking and transferring the pulse one one bowl to the other within a minutes’time. After one minute the pulses(dry green peas and gram dal) were counted and the pair that could transfer the highest number of pulses was declared the winner. Then there was the game where the grandparents blindfolded have to recognise their grandchild by just touching his hand.It was surprising to know that out of six grandparents(who were blindfolded) , three could rightly identify their grandchildren. Then a lucky draw for a well wrapped considerably huge gift was kept which was won by the grandparents of a student of class IIA. Then a few grandparents were invited to share their views or a story to enlighten the students with their age old wisdom. One of the grandparents, one Mr.Varma (Master Tanishq’s grandfather) narrated a story wherein a drastic change was brought in a child who was very weak in reading skill with the joint efforts of both his teacher and his grandparents. He was highlighting the difference that a teacher can bring about in the life of a child and so just like the grandparents, the teachers too play a very important role in the life of a child. All the winners of the games were given a gift along with their grandparents who accompanied them to the dias.Towards the end, Dhanvi Joshi of class XII proposed the ‘Vote of Thanks. She thanked all the grandparents on behalf of the Principal, her team and the students for having spent their valuable time with the school, which apparently indicates their self less involvement not only in the upbringing of their grandchildren but also in their happiness and well being. With this the celebration of ‘Grandparents’Day’ was drawn to an end.
