December 14, 2014

Hari Om!!

We had a new student - Ayushi in our class today. CJCBV welcomes Ayushi and her family. 

The students recited the daily prayers and then listened to the story of Rosa Parks to learn more about being courageous, one of the main qualities of Hanuman. Akbar-Birbal story was a good example to learn about wisdom. The children enjoyed playing copy cat commands game where the children are encouraged to think before they act. We then moved to 2nd Caupai from Tulsidas's Hanuman Chalisa where Hanuman is described as the messenger of Lord Rama. Students learnt that being a messenger is not an easy task. A messenger needs to have the capabilities to deliver the message to right person, at the right time and not be a lazy person. Lord Hanuman had all these qualities in him. The children then had a chance to play the messenger game in the class. 

         The tale - A curse or a boon describes how Pumjisthala was reborn as Anjana and gave birth to Hanuman. When Lord Vishnu was taking an avatar as Rama (a नर:) to help the devas from the evil grip of Ravana, all the Gods took form of monkeys (वानर:). The students were surprised to learn that a syllable "Va" when added to 'Narah'( man) becomes "Vanarah" - monkey. The children had another activity to introduce themselves as " I am...(mother's name)'s Putra and (Father's name) Putra" - similar to how the poet describes  Lord Hanuman as AnjaniPutra and Pavanaputra. The students also promised to be a Nandana/Nandini to their parents. They know that they can do this only by using good words and carrying good manners all times.

        The students will be reciting the first 5 caupai's from their individual portions (Hanuman Chalisa) in the next class.  

Homework:

Please color the first two caupai's pictures from the Hanuman Chalisa's coloring book (until RamaDoota...Caupai).

December 7, 2014

Hari Om!!

      We started the class with the daily prayers. The 2 dohe and the first Caupai of Hanuman Chalisa were covered today. In order to make it easily understandable, the sanskrit verses were broken into single words and the english meanings of those words were taught to the students. The students also learnt about the importance of Guru immediately after the first doha (where the poet purifies himself with the dust of the lotus feet of Guru) and recited the Guru Shloka.

     The poet Tulisdas seeks Lord Hanuman to bless him with strength, wisdom & knowledge and to banish all his afflictions in the second doha. To understand why all the 3 qualities (strength, wisdom & knowledge) must stay together and why each of them do not serve any purpose without the other two was illustrated with an example of how much a computer could be of help to a person without the existence of internet or Google. We then moved on to learn the importance of wind God and how Lord Hanuman has acquired the quality of his father, the wind God, who is invisible yet powerful.

    The first caupai praises the Lord with beautiful words of the poet and leading to Lord Indra's story that summarizes how Hanuman as a baby got all the powers from the Gods. Lord Hanuman was also the minister of Sugriva and was a Lord without even being crowned. Because he was not ruling a piece of land, but was ruling the hearts of people. The students had an activity to list down all the bad qualities and the good qualities residing in their hearts and they promised to remove all the bad ones and retain the good qualities. Homework is an important tool for learning and all the students are encouraged to complete the homework assigned.Vedant recited almost all the verses of Hanuman Chalisa in the class today. Please see below for this week's homework.

  Homework : We shall carry forward the homework from the last class. The first 5 verses of  Hanuman Chalisa from the individual portion listed in the earlier blog. 

November 23, 2014

Hari Om!!

It was good to see the students' write up on the qualities of the Hanuman(last week's homework). We started the class with the daily prayers - Om Sahana Vavatu, Karagre Vasate, Saraswathi Namstubyam, Brahmarpanam, Shubam Karothi, Guru Shloka, Bhudir Balam, Kara Charana and Kaayena Vacha.

The students had an overview of Hanuman Chaalisa where the poet Tulsidas praises Lord Hanuman. The poet describes Hanuman uniquely in every verse like the messenger of Rama, the son of the wind God, the son of Anjani, the warrior of incomparable valor, the remover of wicked thoughts, the incarnation of Lord Shiva and so on.

The students learnt about Vakpatuthvam - the ability to talk effectively. They took turns to tell a story of their choice. And learnt how to rephrase the sentences better. To include nice words & avoid any negative words that would hurt others while talking. The stories of Socrates was related to the same topic. And the story of Hanuman showing Rama & Sita in his chest proved Hanuman as the greatest devotee of Lord Rama. The students also listened to the story -  'Man's Greatness Lies in His Efforts' to understand how hardwork pays back and the parrot story - 'You become the company you keep' that teaches the children to always stay in good association and use your individual mind while taking decisions or implementing actions and avoid bad influences.

The students also learnt to write Hanuman in Sanskrit before reciting their closing prayer.

We will be on thanksgiving break and will meet again in December.

Homework: To prepare for the annual day celebrations, please memorize the first 5 verses of YOUR INDIVIDUAL PORTION of Hanuman Chalisa. Refer to last week's blog to know your individual portion. Students are expected to recite them when they come to the class in December.

November 16, 2014

Hari Om!!

We had a new student - Karan join us today. We welcome Karan & his family at JCBV.
The class started off with the students reciting all the daily prayers. The students learnt the importance of having a healthy body, free from all diseases & the advantages of being alert. They enjoyed listening to the story of Lazy Misty where Misty realizes her mistakes of being Lazy & the story of King Leo where the Lion King realizes how important it is to stay alert & also being helpful to others.

Prelude to Hanuman Chalisa, we read the tale of the Ox who won the bet. The students learnt that Pure Speech reflects Pure Mind & therefore, our speech must always be sweet & pure.

Homework:

In your own words, please write one or two sentences of what you think about each of the qualities of Hanuman & how you will follow them in your daily life.
Qualities of Hanuman - Intelligence, Strength (Physical & Mental), Fame, Courage, Fearlessness, Staying Physically & mentally healthy and Alertness.

Annual Day Preparations:

As you all know, we will be celebrating our Annual day sometime during the last week of January.
Our second graders will be reciting the Hanuman Chalisa - Dohas.

Amit - Doha 1 to 10
Athreya - 11 to 20
Karan - 21 to 30
Vedant - 31 to 40

November 9, 2014

Hari Om Parents!!

The first & second grade classes were combined today and the students narrated Ramayana taking turns post our daily prayers. Next, the students learnt about the qualities of Hanuman like being courageous and avoiding fear. The transformation of Ratnakara & The foolish/timid rabbit stories emphasized on the same qualities.

The students will learn about Arogata, Ajadyam & Vakpatutvam in our next class, with which the first section of this year's curriculum comes to an end. We will then move on to Hanuman Chalisa.