Excursion to the tomb of Firoz Shah Tughluq, class 12 accompanies class 5.

It is said that the more you learn about the past, the better prepared you are for the future. Keeping this in mind, the History students of class 12 decided to take the students of class 5 to Firoz Shah Tughluq Tomb for an excursion which not only intended to tell them the historical relevance of the monument, but also the significance that citizenship plays in ones day to day life. We pulled up our socks up and started reading up the history of this monument, which has also been adopted by our School.

We were aided by our teacher, Ms. Charu Bhatnagar who briefed us about the layout of the complex, as most of us had never been there before. Finally, D-Day arrived on 11 April, 2015 and we were very excited. We acquainted ourselves with the children going with us and started a discussion on the cultural and historical diversity generally characteristic of our country. Upon reaching our destination, we divided ourselves into small groups and proceeded to explore the facets of the complex. Built in the 14th century, Firoz Shah Tughluq's tomb is located at Hauz Khas.( literally meaning 'tank of the special people'). In the immediate vicinity of the tomb is a water tank, a mosque and a madrasa. All these structures along with the tomb are referred to as the Hauz Khas Complex. We pointed out the various styles of architecture that appeared in these edifices and the children seemed eager to know more about them. Tired by now, the children were given time to draw ( or paint) what caught their eye. While some drew the beautiful lake with its swans and ducks, others seemed more intrigued by the ayyats and arabesque designs that adorned the monument.

Last but not least, we set out to clean up the tomb premises and its gardens as we believe ' we must be the change we want to see'! The children worked enthusiastically along with us, class 12 students, and soon, we had the compound squeaky clean!

Exhausted but satisfied, the children were rewarded with chocolates and sweets. They seemed delighted and readily gave us feedback of the days proceedings! Here are some of the responses. It was a good experience and I learnt a lot. The chocolates were tasty too. Yash Ahuja. We should have more such excursions.? Anaya. This is very beautiful place and I would like to come again with class XII. Bhavneet. Studies in the madrasa near the lake must have been great fun! " Shubh. Chattris and the arabesque motifs are marvelous. Dhanajaya. We headed back to School happily, knowing that our little endeavour to make the younger students more aware about their history had been successful.

Pranati Haldia, XIIC.