Jan 2019 - 8th Grade

January started off with discussions about possible topics for our class presentation for Parents Day. We have narrowed down on a couple of interesting topics and will be working on it for sometime in the following weeks.

We enjoyed the Sankranthi Celebrations, walking through the different stations, dancing for Bhangra, decorating the Maattu Pongal Bull etc. We continue to focus on Karma and its results.

We studied Shishupala Vadha episode, where Krishna kills Shishupala after he hurled one hundred insults at Him. The kids were divided into four groups and were asked to read the story first. Then each group came up in front of the class to tell their group’s takeaways from the reading and also to take questions from the rest of the class.

Some points that were brought up are:

• People don’t forget who you were when you were younger. Though the world judges you for where you come from ( family background and economic status), it is your actions alone in the end that make your identity. Eg: Krishna raised in a family of cowherds, rose to stand for Dharma and gave Bhagavad Gita to the whole world. 
• Shishupala was not thankful to his mother, who actually requested Krishna to delay his killing until he hurls a hundred insults at Him. 
• Draupadi was very compassionate towards Krishna: Krishna hurt His finger when He killed Shishupala with the Sudarshana Chakra. Draupadi immediately tore a piece of her sari to tie a knot around His finger to stop the bleeding. 
• Even though Krishna killed Shishupala, in the bigger picture, He actually liberated him so he can go back to Vaikunta and be a guard once again. We would like to thank all the parents who were able to come to for Meet and Greet! If you were unable to attend, you can always follow on our Teacher’s Blog.

Your sevaks,
Vandana, Praveen and Revathy.

Dec 2018 - 8th grade

Dharmam

We continue to focus on learning more about ‘Karma’ and the results it brings in to a person, depending on whether it is a good or a bad karma. We studied the following episodes from Mahabharatha this month to understand how karma works:

1. Draupadi’s Vastraharana:

We watched an animated version of Vastraharana on youtube.The kids were visibly flustered when they saw Dhushasana bringing Draupadi to the court by dragging her hair and started pulling her sari upon Duryodhana’s orders. This act (karma) of his, caused the demise of the entire Kauarava clan.

We had many participants during the discussion session and the kids brought to light the following points:

*Women were and are still afraid to speak up against sexual harassment.

*There are men like Duryodhana, who, even to this day disrespect women.

*A woman should not be treated as a man’s property.

*Yudishtira had no right to play Draupadi, since he had already lost himself.

*Since Draupadi was the first woman to ask for justice against her sexual assault, she is truly the one who spearheaded the “ME TOO movement!

*It is very hard for a woman to prove that she was sexually assaulted. Kids brought out the case of Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford.

Please see the following writing samples from our class!

2. The 13th Year of Pandava Exile: 
We narrated how the Pandavas lived for 12 years in the forest and lived in disguise during the thirteenth year. We also learnt about how Bhima killed Keechaka.

Hope all enjoying your break with family and looking forward to seeing you all in 2019!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019!

Your class sevaks, 

Revathy, Vandana, Praveen

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.