CMS World Peace Festival, Confluence 2015

The World Peace Festival, Confluence 2015, was organised by the City Montessori School (CMS), Lucknow from December 16 - 20, 2015. CMS organises the festival on alternate years in collaboration with the World Peace Prayer Society and the United Nations' Information Centre. On this occasion, CMS invites schools to participate in a diverse range of events organised by them. The central idea underlying these events remains the development of cultural understanding, the promotion of peaceful co-existence and the instilling of a sense of unity and peace in young minds. Such a stimulating environment lets children appreciate first-hand, the similarities and celebrate the differences, between people from all over the country and the world.

During the five day festival, the following competitions were held: Senior Category: Quiz, Page Tech and World Parliament

Junior Category: Poem Enactment and Collage Making

Team Events: Choreography and Euphoric Trins

My Dream Canvas: School Category

From our School, Jivesh S Malawalia (X-C), Tanya Nayyar (IX-E) and Rtiwika Dasgupta (X-C) participated in the senior category, while Khushboo Arora (V-E), Aditi Gaur (V-E) and Khushi Kedia (VII-C) represented School in the junior category. We were accompanied to the event by Ms. Veena Kumar.

We reached City Montessori School on December 16th. On the first day we were invited to be part of a group photograph with Mr. Jagdish Gandhi, Chairperson, the CMS group of schools. Forty-five teams, some even international, had arrived to participate in the event. Twenty of these were representatives of the different CMS branches. The first day was quite relaxed and we spent the day preparing for the competitions scheduled over the next few days. On the second day, December 17th, Ritwika and Jivesh had to present a power point presentation for the event, World Parliament. The topic given to them was Education and World Peace. Our School was shortlisted for the final round from 25 outstation schools, including two international teams from Bangladesh and Nepal.

On December 18th, there was we had Poetry Enactment for the juniors, a quiz for the seniors and a dance competition in which the whole team was to participate. Our three young participants from the junior team, Khushboo, Aditi and Khushi performed really well in the poetry enactment and took the first prize. The dance competition was scheduled in the afternoon. The theme for the dance was Man the Protector. Our costume and dance was received well and we were showered with compliments! In the evening, a fun time was organised by the host school. Our School was the first to finish the treasure hunt, a non-competitive team event.

On December 19th, Euphoric Thrills, a western music competition was scheduled. This was also a team event and the entire team had to participate. Our performance received a hearty applause. In the evening we were taken on a sight-seeing tour to visit the Eco Park and then for a stint of shopping.

On December 20th, Ritwika and Jivesh took part in the Pagetech competition in which they were required to make a power point presentation on the spot. Aditi and Khushi also had a collage-making competition. Since we were to catch the train in the afternoon, we did not stay back for the prize distribution ceremony. On our way back to Delhi, our team leader received the message that we had won the first prize in Poetry Enactment and My Dream Canvas. My Dream Canvas' was a poster-making competition. The poster was prepared by Khushi Kedia of class VII. The theme of the poster was 'Education and World Peace'. We had submitted it earlier during the registration. It was very heartening to receive the award. Ms. Ruchi Bhawan Joshi, Principal along with other teachers at CMS, had been extremely hospitable and welcoming through the event, making our trip a memorable one. Tanya Nayyar (IX E).