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).