Anjali - Daksha School Sports Day Dec 14, 2019

Daksha School veered away from no-competition Sports Days so far, to one where there would be competitions in addition to drills etc. The school has grown much bigger so they split the primary and the upper classes this time - into morning and evening batches. Anjali was chosen to compere the morning show along with Kaniyan of the 8th class. It was a first for her, so she wrote her script, ran it by her teachers, fitted in all the names of the participants, practised reading aloud many times and went at it.

March past!

Apart from this she made the sprint finals for 7th and 8th class girls, participated in the march past, yoga, Kung Fu and a very lovely cloth drill. So she had her hands full all day. Shobhs and I went in at 1245 and found ourselves a seat at the indoor stadium at Yousufguda, and were soon joined by Ramesh and Kushal, Mansi's father and brother. There were races, hurdles and kho kho games. This time they even had houses - red, yellow, green and blue. Anjali and Divya were in red. Mansi in green.

Yoga

The march past was nicely done. Then the yoga, races, kho kho, lezim drill, cloth drill. Most of the drills were superbly choreographed - lezim, cloth, umbrella to name some. I loved watching the kho kho games. Some of the races were fascinating with close finishes or superb runs. So was the skating show, yoga show and the Kung fu show. Overall very good.

Kung fu

As always Anita introduced the helpers and the teachers and it was fun to watch the kids cheering their favorites teachers and helpers. The program was so packed that they had to cut short a couple of events including the kho kho match.

All kung fu children!

It was good to see the spirit in which the games were played. I do not agree with the philosophy that children should not enter competitive games - which some schools have. What the children could be taught is to find the right spirit - of participation, of competing with others and finally of competing with oneself. By keeping one part away you cannot grow a whole; they must also know what competition is and find the right method to deal with it. This is how children realise that they need not be good at everything - they have their unique features while others have their own. In this acceptance of things, this celebration of excellence in ourselves and others, we grow as a team, a society.

Yoga - they displayed some really tough asanas

Watching some of the athletes playing kho kho or running the races, was such a pleasure; their athleticism, grace, strength, body movement, instinct, were a sight to behold. To hide this aspect of them would be unfair while the other children who may be good at academics, music, quiz etc get a chance to showcase their intelligence. As a case in point, Anjali, Divya, Mansi competed in the race while Brahmani was in the hurdles.

Watching the proceedings and discussing 

Divya and Mansi raced away to a gold and silver while Anjali came in behind. It must have been disappointing for her but she would in time accept her present limitations, work on them and prepare better for the next race, if she chooses to. Alternately, she may pick another area of her strength and liking and excel in that. While she celebrates the victory of her friends here, they celebrate her victory in her areas. As a team, they win. Each fulfilling a role.

The umbrella drill

Nothing captured the joy of teamwork as the moment when it was announced that the red team won. They erupted in an explosion of joy and it continued unabated until the pictures were taken. But as children are - it was heartening to watch them all walk away - reds, greens, blues, yellows  - hand in hand, discussing what happened, leaving their effort behind on the field.

The final celebration!

For this, well done Daksha.