Nov 2018 - 8th grade

Dharmam

Our theme of this year is "Yato Dharmah, Tato Jayah".We are learning how to lead a Victorious Life!

The first half of our year will focus on Karma and its outcomes. For this,we are studying some episodes from Mahabaratha, analyze the characters, their actions (karma) and understand how these influenced their destiny. The episodes are also being screened in English on the TV for about 10 minutes for the kids to watch. We further relate these episodes to current happenings

King Santhanu’s marriage to mother Ganga and Sathyavathi

He put his desire first, without thinking of his citizens. We drew a parallel to the fact that when a President decides to withdraw from the Climate Deal. Kids were divided into two groups: For and against climate change and had a heated debate.

Birth of Pandavas and Kauravas

We examined how the birth of 100 Kauravas could have been through cloning of the one big mass delivered by Gandhari.

Gandhari’s vow to blindfold her eyes

Students talked about how she could have been Dhitharashtra’s eyes and help him rule the kingdom. Current parallel: Some people blindly think that ‘Slavery is good for slaves.’

Burning of the lac palace

Dhuryodana’s jealousy compared to Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan episode, eventually leading to the destruction of their own selves. The kids were brave enough to share their ill-feelings and recognized that those were not for their best.

Draupadi’s Swayamvara

Kunti asking the Pandavas to share Draupadi A mother’s word always comes true. Respect your parents!

Game of Dice

Yudishtira’s weakness for playing dice led him to lose his kingdom. We compared this to Michael Jackson’s weakness of prescription overdose. We have covered many episodes so far and are looking for a productive rest of the year!

With warm wishes,

Vandana, Praveen, and Revathy.