MPVM Celebrates 150th Birth Anniversary of Gandhiji----->
On 2nd October Gandhi and Shastri Jayanti was celebrated to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of the two great National Leaders of our country. The day began with celebrations at Maharshi Patanjali Vidya Mandir where teachers and students went on a ‘Prabhat Pheri’ followed by a special assembly programme complete with a ‘Sarva Dharm Prathana Sabha’ which was conducted by the school teachers. The students as well as the teachers took a pledge to support the ‘Swacchata Abhiyaan,’ to promote cleanliness and ‘stop the single use of plastic’. Further, due to inclement weather conditions, it was decided that the activities scheduled to be held prior to 2nd October would be held throughout the month of October. The Principal of the school Smt. Sushmita Kanungo addressed the students. She told the students to follow the Gandhian path of truthfulness and honesty and told the students to idealise the path of Ahimsa. She also highlighted how Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji was an epitome of simplicity. She explained how relevance of the slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kissan’ can be felt more deeply in the present day when we see the hard times that the farmers are facing and the country needs to show their support to the farmers and good agriculture. The celebrations ended with the students and the teachers singing the Ramdhun.
Later in the day, the Patanjalite teachers of Maharshi Patanjali Vidya Mandir, Patanjali Nursery School and Patanjali Rishikul celebrated the day with a lot of devotion and fervour. The programme commenced with the lighting of the lamp and garlanding of the portraits of the two great Indian patriots. Thereafter the teachers of MPVM melodiously sang Gandhiji’s favourite bhajan “Vaishnavjan to tene kahiyen” giving the message of honesty, righteousness, love for humanity and the need to be benevolent. The teachers of MPVM presented a ‘Sarvadharma Prarthna’ representing diverse religious groups of our country and portraying true secularism in spirit and work. Verses from the Gita, Gurbani, the Quoran and the Bible showed how every religion taught peace, love brotherhood, harmony and sacrifice. Parth Dhwaj Das Shukla a student of class IX potrayed himself as ‘Shastriji’ highlighting his greatness and his love for his motherland. The teachers of Patanjali Rishikul came up with an innovative presentation of “Tuhi Ram Hai Tu Rahim Hai” showing equal respect for all the religious. The teachers of Patanjali Sarva Shiksha Prarambhik Vidyalaya sang the song “De di hume azaadi bina kharag, bina dhal …”. The collective programme concluded with the Ramdhun, “Raghupati Raghav” presented by the Patanjali Group of Teachers.
The Secretary Dr. Krishna Gupta highly appreciated the programme. Gandhiji is not just to be remembered, but to be understood and his thoughts followed. She also told the audience how great personalities like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandel were inspired by Gandhiji. Today the world realizes the need to tread the path of non violence. She termed Gandhiji not as a politician or a statesman but as a seeker of truth, who taught the world to stand up to the good principles through a non-violent resistance against social evils.
The celebration ended with the singing of ‘Vande Matram’.
