On 31 January 2023, The Indian School hosted the inter school Sanskrit Vachan Kaushal competition. The annual competition is sponsored by the Prafull Foundation to promote Sanskrit among school children.
Fifteen schools from across Delhi took part in an exciting display of mastery over the language. Dr Kanta Rani Bhatia, former Principal, Bharati College and chairperson of the Delhi Sanskrit Academy, graced the occasion as chief guest. The judges of the competition were Dr Pankaja Ghai Kaushik, Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Sanskrit, Lady Sriram College for Women and Dr Suchitra Bharati, Assistant Professor, Gargi College.
The event commenced with the customary lighting of the lamp, followed by Sanskrit Mantrochchar sung by the school choir. Vice-Principal Dr Anu Singh welcomed the participating schools and guests. She spoke about the importance of Sanskrit in a global world and said that Sanskrit is widely acclaimed in the West. She said that the event is a brainchild of School chairman, Mr Prafull Goradia. She then invited the chief guest to address the gathering.
Dr Bhatia appreciated the musical rendition by the choir and emphasised the importance of Sanskrit. She highlighted the usage of Sanskrit in computer science and the emergence of Vedic Mathematics. She spoke about the numerous job opportunities in the field, naming Sanskrit as one of the main subjects in the UPSC examination, besides being used for speech therapy.
There were two rounds of the competition. The first involved narrating a story from the Panchatantra in Sanskrit with visual aids. This round was for the students of classes 6 and 7. In the second round, the students of classes 8, 9 and 10 recited shlokas from the classical text, Meghdootam written by Mahakavi Kalidas, alongside its meaning.
Dr Kaushik thanked School for inviting her and applauded the beauty of the performances. She stressed on the importance of participation, and how crucial it is to stay connected to ones roots.
Dr Suchitra Bharati also thanked School. She offered valuable advice to all the participants and explained the difference between a Shlok and a Katha.
All the participants performed beautifully, yet a few who stood apart, claimed the prizes. The First, Second, Third, and two consolation prize winners were awarded cash prizes of Rs. 5000/-, 3000/-, 2000/-, and 500/- respectively by the Prafull Foundation. In addition, chief guest Dr Bhatia sponsored Special Prizes of Rs. 1000/- each for both the categories.
The results of the event are as follows.
KAHANI VACHAN
1st PRIZE: Vaishnavi Sundershan of Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram;
2nd PRIZE: Anvita Bahukhandi of Bluebells School International;
3rd PRIZE: Abheem Verma of Birla Vidya Niketan, Pushp Vihar;
CONSOLATION PRIZES: Reeshu Rishita Pati of The Mothers International School and
Sharnaya Jindal of Ahlcon International School
SPECIAL PRIZE: Sagarika Singh of Tagore International School, Vasant Vihar.
SHLOK VACHAN
1st PRIZE: Taneya Sardar of Vasant Valley School, Vasant Kunj;
2nd PRIZE: Unnati Mathur of ITL Public School, Dwarka;
3rd PRIZE Palakshi of The Mothers International School;
CONSOLATION PRIZE: Svasti of Delhi Public School, Mathura Road and
Srijon Mazumdar of Birla Vidya Niketan, Pushp Vihar;
SPECIAL PRIZE: Dikshita Chattopadhyay of Tagore International School, Vasant Vihar
Congrats to the winners and all participants!
In the Press
Admissions
