Literary Week is an exciting annual feature on our School calendar. It aims at infusing in the children across the classes, an appreciation, understanding and love for literature. The Indian School observed virtual Literary Week with much aplomb in its various genres from 26 to 30 April 2021.
School welcomed several acclaimed writers and speakers whose presence created quite a spur amongst the students, igniting their latent creativity. It was indeed a great opportunity for students to savour a delightful treat of literary genius served hot on an eclectic platter!
The week long celebration got underway on 26 April, with Ms Samina Mishras book reading session for the primary classes. Ms Mishra is a celebrated documentary filmmaker, writer and teacher. Talking about her book Jamlo Walks, recently published by Penguin Random House India, Ms Mishra narrated a part of the story through the eyes of 12 year-old Jamlo Makdam, who, like several other migrants, had to flee her city due to the lockdown last year. Moved by the harrowing tale and her struggle to survive the ordeal, the young Indianites also shared their own experiences of the lockdown.
Next on the roster the same day, was a storytelling session conducted for class VI by Ms Indrani Mukherjee, storyteller of repute. Ms. Mukherjee narrated a folktale from Karnataka, about two sisters living by the forest. The tale was inspirational about the need to nurture trees and protect nature.
27 April was quite an eventful day with three sessions lined up for the students of primary, middle and senior levels.
Our English teacher, Ms Vandana Tewari enthralled her young listeners of class V with a story telling session based on mental health. The audience was spellbound as it listened to the story- My Strong Mind by Niels Van Hove. The innovative use of voice modulation and body language infused passion, enhanced imagination and expression and introduced the children to new horizons of storytelling. The children learnt that a healthy mind is very important for a healthy body. They learnt the importance of staying calm and positive by practising optimistic thinking and meditation.
Ms Jugeeta Pegu, an experienced copywriter conducted a workshop on creative writing for class VII. Her vivacity evoked zest among the keen learners
as they grasped techniques to enhance and fine-tune their imagination skills. Ms Pegu underlined the importance of creativity and its special place in the advertising industry. She gave examples of various ads and explained how brands try to target the audience. The students took back useful tips on how to think 'out of the box'.
An interactive session with Mr Bhaskar Mazumdar was conducted for the students of classes XI and XII. The topic for discussion was Start Ups in India and Abroad. Mr Mazumdar is Founder and Managing Partner at Unicorn India Ventures, a Mumbai-based VC fund.
Mr Mazumdar began his session by stating the difference between start-ups in India, USA and Europe. He emphasised the need to appreciate and understand the concept of technology in todays dynamic world. He appreciated the spirit of todays youth who are eager to start something on their own while following their passion to serve society. He advised the young attendees to not get lured by the glamour of start-ups and learn to keep their calm amidst the chaos. He encouraged them to become employment-creators rather than employment- seekers.
After the enriching session, the students asked several questions. Mr Mazumdar lauded the students for their high level of receptivity and exuberance and was thrilled to see an upcoming brigade of young entrepreneurs!
28 April was reserved for Ms Mona Mohanty, a serving bureaucrat in the Indian Revenue Service and an author. Ms Mohanty shared with the students of classes IX and X, how she revels in observing the activities and antics of all living beings, as a hobby. Betwixt Twists And Turns', her book is a result of such a hobby. Talking about the book, the author said that it presents a series of short stories born from random thoughts that popped up out of nowhere, as it were, overheard bits of conversation, parables of family lore, and anecdotes from friends. She shared how these stories vividly capture the routine of existence but with a surprising twist.
She inspired her listeners with her words-. Words Maketh the Man and hoped that the love for the written word continues to grow, that each of us does our bit to keep this precious part of our lives always alive.
On 29 April 2021 a session was held on debating and public speaking skills. Ms Jayshree Mehta, independent consultant and life skills trainer conducted the session for classes IX and X.
The workshop began with a true and false quiz round, where Ms Mehta shared some general notions relating to public speaking and explained how each one of these is true or false. She told the students that one of the most important things about public speaking is to put forth our thoughts in a simple manner. She said that it is not necessary to pack in a lot of information to sound knowledgeable. She emphasised how we must learn from good public speakers but not copy them; we must always try to be ourselves. Ms Mehta revealed the essentials of public speaking, namely, confidence, body language, content, voice modulation and audience engagement. She asserted that one must be well read and researched before speaking in front of an audience, and should try to come up with new and unique points. She laid stress on the need to summarise ones speech. Lastly, she encouraged the students to step out of their 'comfort zones' by participating in class and speaking in front of small audiences consisting of family and friends. This greatly helps overcome the fear of speaking in front of an unfamiliar audience in the future.
In another session on 29 April, Ms Kavita Iyer, language trainer, acquainted our budding writers of class VIII with the different genres of story writing.
Ms Iyer began with a quiz to gauge the childrens knowledge of the various styles and forms of story writing, giving them an insight into the different elements of the each. She emphasised the importance of observing ones surroundings closely and relating them with things that are known to us. She told the enthusiastic and interactive audience that once the ideas are formed, it is important to lose inhibitions and indulge in free writing, documenting all the thoughts. The useful tips by Ms Iyer were supplemented with examples of writing prompts, including both images and words.
Ms Jugeeta Pegu conducted another session for the students of classes XI and XII on 30 April. She talked to the students about brand positioning and advertising.
Ms Pegu commenced the session by asking the students what they understand by the term advertisement. After receiving varied replies, she described some basic concepts relating to creative advertising. She explained the terms 'brand', 'USP', 'creative execution' and 'target audience', with the help of examples. Ms Pegu made the session lively and interactive by quoting incidents from her personal and professional life and asking students about their areas of interest. She also spoke about topics like ideal customer profile and key performance indicator.
Towards the end of the session, Ms Pegu asked the students to brainstorm and come up with a tagline for their product! She was very impressed to see our children come up with real, innovative and unique taglines.
The week long literature carnival thus came to a successful end. A veritable celebration of literature, the Literary Week at School was indeed a week well spent in 'edutainment'.
Amidst the scourge of the pandemic, the Literary Week celebrations held virtually by The Indian School this year, were a reminder that one must always have a positive outlook and brave all calamities in the hope that this too shall pass.
In the Press
Admissions
