Tuesday, January 22, 2008

the chief guest

i recently attended the annual sports day function at our kids' school twice! because the sports day for the pre-primary section was on a different day from the primary section. (click here to see the pics. and don't believe the slander you will hear that i was trying to get the pretty teachers on film instead of my kids!!!)

every year i worry about reaching office late because of having to attend the darned event! and how the financial markets will crash and the country's economy will slip a few notches if i reach office a couple of hours late! (somehow this sense of panic doesn't creep in when wake up late and crawl into office at an unearthly hour, late hour, i mean!)

but every year i only feel glad that i still managed to make it. (actually i should thank the 'big boss' at home for goading me into action with some well-aimed below-the-belt remarks about the afore-mentioned effects on the stock markets, et al!)

this year's events was no different. no actually, there was a big difference. and therefore this post.

there were the usual march-pasts, the drills, the yoga/karate/gymnastics displays, the races for the kids (which actually look like some cultural show more than races) and all that.

but what made it different this year was the choice of the chief guest by the school. normally they call some local dignitary or a school official or even a teacher from one of their group schools. but this year they actually had a student from one of their group of schools as the chief student! and not an ex-student who had made it big in the big, bad world, but a student from the current 9th standard (or 9th grade as my develop-world compatriots would call it) batch!

her name was neha bole and she was a state level swimming champion who had also won at many national level events. this was the first time i saw a school honoring one of their students in such a novel way. by inviting an athlete to be the chief guest at the annual sports day!

i think this sent a very apt message to all the students as well as the parents. about how we need to give due attention to sports. about how sports is important to make our children well-rounded individuals. about how sports can help in developing skills which can actually help even in academics. about how sport can also bring glory to the individual and to our nation!

12 comments:

~nm said...

Hahaha..that sure was a funny way of describing how you felt about the whole thing :)

And about honoring the student, I think it deserves a big big applaud to the school and to the person who thought of this idea.

aMus said...

nice pics...so which one of them was your kid?


and that was a novel idea indeed!!instead of having an xyz boring te hell out of them...this sure sent the message across more effectively!

Anonymous said...

Great idea.All education community should be proud of.Actually our education system needs three languages.i)State language-as mother tongue ii)English-as international language & iii)Sanskrit- as the national language Hindi in fact belongs as mother tongue to UP and Bihar.Moreover Hindi reminds one of religion Hinduism.Sanskrit is a very secular word for secular Bharat.

Anonymous said...

HI,
Cheeeeeeeeeeers to the school!!! amazing act of honoring a student.
All goood things in life need appreciation,be it pretty looking teachers!(lol to this)
rgds
priyanka nambiar.

Gazal said...

this post makes me nostalgic about all those sports day(as a teacher)in school..all the dust,grime,sweat,and fist-o-fights between the faculty members.
frankly,i feel the sports day,(in most schools is an eye wash)...just feverish practice for a few days,grill the kids in the hot sun,with perfect moves,showcase kids who have done well coz they are talented and their parents have taken the supreme effort....while the rest just bite the dust.
but its good that some schools are branching out.SORRY FOR EATING UP SO MUCH OF SPACE....pent up expressions i guess.

Guruprasad said...

@~nm : i agree. about the applause for the school. i did not think very highly of the principal till recently. but if she is the person behind this choice then i have no hesitation in changing my view about her.

@ TA : the third kid waving away at the camera :)

@annonymous : interesting idea about the 3 languages.

@priya : i am all for appreciating the good things in life ;)

@gazal : its good to see it from a teacher's perspective. yes i do see your point about sports day honoring only the stars while the others fall by the wayside. i never looked at it like that. i guess, by using this format, this school makes the sports day a special ocassion for all the kids!
(and don't worry about using up space! its free! :) )

Tys on Ice said...

jeez, the only time i have come in front of my school assembly was to get my daily dose of beating from the principal.

I shud hve been made a chief guest...damn!

Tys on Ice said...

jeez, the only time i have come in front of my school assembly was to get my daily dose of beating from the principal.

I shud hve been made a chief guest...damn!

aMus said...

doen't she look happy to see u there?...

Guruprasad said...

@tys : i'd rather be a chief guest at a fashion show :P

aMus said...

she sure looks happy seeing you there :)

Guruprasad said...

@TA : she looks happy seeing daddy at school for once!