Hari Om Parents,
We began our class with 3 OMs and the following shlokas.
1. "Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
2."Vakrathunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
3. "Saraswathi Namasthubhyam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
4. "Karagre Vasate" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
5. "Samudhra Vasane" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
6. "Shubam Karoti" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
7. "Gurur Brahma" (page 60 in My Prayers book)
8. "Brahmarpanam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
9. "Krishnaya Vasudevaya" (page 105 in My Prayers book)
10. "Sri Rama Rama" (page 129 in My Prayers book)
11. "Budhir Balam" (page 152 in My Prayers book)
12. "Kara Charana" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
We had some recordings that needed to be completed. ALL the kids did an amazing job picking backgrounds, creating slides and confidently presenting them! We are super proud of how they took constructive criticism well and came back with excellent results. We are super excited about putting this presentation together for everyone to see during our assembly on the 24th.
Once we finished up the recordings, we decided to go back and revise the first 2 shlokas in the Govinda Damodara Stotram. We then introduced the 3rd shloka. We had the kids repeat the shloka twice.
I am an ornament usually made up of
metal, glass or plastic.
When I am with my companions, I make
too much noise.
That's why sometimes I have to stay all by
myself and still look beautiful.
Lady with one bangle
We told the class a short story about a lady who was home alone as her parents had gone away for a while. A young man and his family had come to see the lady in hopes of asking for her hand in marriage. The lady did not want them to find out that she was home alone and had to do "everything" herself. She had to husk the rice to make food. She didn't want them to see how poor they were so she went out back. When she started husking the rice, her bangles made a lot of noise. So she went on to remove most of them but kept two on each arm. When she started husking again, she still heard some noise, so she removed one more on each arm. Now with only one bangle on each wrist, no one could hear the husking.
When many are dwelling together, quarrel would ensue. Even when there are two living together, there is conversation.
Therefore, one should wander alone just as a single bangle on the wrist of a lady makes no noise.
Do we remember ?
Dattatreya told the King –
•Q: "How should one live in this world?"
• A: King Yadu asked about the secret of the wandering saint's blissful appearance.
• The art of living was taught by 24 teachers and he took refuge in them. (ch. 11 Bhagavatam)
• From this girl I have learnt that there is always a lot of noise and quarreling
when many people gather.
• Even when there are two people there is small talk and gossip.
• This can lead to unpleasantness later.
• Like the single bangle on the girl's wrist, one should be alone whenever
one needs to pray or concentrate to do some important work.
• Concentration is essential if one desires to attain oneness with the Lord.
To be alone for sometime is absolutely necessary for introspection and
reflection. This is when we become capable of fixing our own goals in life.
Really speaking, we are never alone.
God is always with us.
There is no need to be afraid!
We then asked the kids if they remember how Krishna got the name "Damodara",they all said they forgot. In their defence, we have a bit of a break from our normal classes. So we watched a cute video of why Krishna got tied up by Ma Yashodha and what happened after, giving Him the name "Damodara".
After that, we had the kids do two word wall activities on My 24 Teachers. They all did well and had fun. We then opened up a discussion on what the kids have learnt about a teacher that was NOT assigned to them. It was a fun and interactive discussion.
We concluded class with Aarathi and Pledge.
Neelima & Keerthi