Gandhi Jayanti Celebrations at Select Citywalk Mall, 3 October, 2013.

This year, on 2 October, 2013, India celebrated the 144th birth anniversary of the Father of our nation. We, Indianites idolise Gandhiji for his teachings of satya and ahimsa and therefore the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti is of seamless significance for us.

This time our students got an opportunity, to, not only recall the values of Bapu, but also to reach out to others, with them. The Select Citywalk Mall invited our choir to sing Gandhijis favourite bhajans for their visitors. The school choir, that included students from classes 4 to 11 was ready and eager to oblige!

The choir has performed at inter- school competitions and cultural programs at School but this time they were unsure of the response they could get from an audience that had gathered to either shop or eat in the mall! But, to their great surprise, as soon as we entered the mall a crowd quickly gathered around the area where the performance was to be held, eagerly waiting for what the students had in store for them! This got the confidence mounting and soon the soulful singing cradled in the melody of the harmonium, tabla and the flute captivated the crowd. They listened silently as the famous Narsinh Mehta bhajan written in the 15th century rent the air. It was followed by the beautiful Payoji maine Ram Ratan dhan paayo. The choir concluded with Bapu's favourite, Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, glorified by Gandhiji and his followers at the Dandi march.

The audience clapped in joy as they stood, seemingly transported by the simplicity and truth of the music. We also had the students of class 9 who were present to encourage their schoolmates. The students themselves seemed moved by the devotional singing and also seemed to have acquired a new confidence before an unfamiliar audience. The celebration of Gandhi Jayanti this year was truly the way our School is. Unique.