Hari Om,
This is a quick review of the topics we discussed on 04/02/2023.
"Jan Gan Man" - The Indian National Anthem
The children beautifully sang the Indian National Anthem. As part of their student performance on May 7th, they will be singing the national anthem.
Sacred Land ? Great Land ? Said who ? So what ?
The children were asked about their first thoughts about the country - India. Some of their thoughts were as follows:
Poverty
Population
Multiple languages
Lot of rituals, temples, states
Heard about corruption
Variety of cuisines
We discussed an imaginary scene where people are passing by a container which is stinking. The stench is repulsive and no one is willing to go near it or even find out what is in there.
However, news spreads that this container stores several gems, precious stones, diamonds, and jewels.
Upon hearing it, the citizens join hands and devise methods to solve the situation, by clearing, digging and cleaning the container.
This scenario is a parallel to people's opinions about India. It hides within it several good qualities which are of benefit to the entire world. However, people should be willing to take the time to dig-in, research and understand the wisdom. Time and again, this has been proved by thinkers, philosophers, saints, scientists from all over the world.
History Review
We did a quick review of the different timelines from 6000 BC to 50 AD. Some of the key highlights are as follows:
Saraswati river & the Indus valley civilization.
The advanced civilizational aspects of the society at that time. This was a dark age in the western world.
3228 BC was the year when Shri Krishna descended on Earth. 3139 BC is the year of the Mahabharata war.
The Maurya dynasty, which was set-up by Chandragupt, ably led by Acharya Vishnugupt or Chanakya.
Birth of Bhagwaan Adi Sankaracharya and how he traveled around Bharat, 8 times, by foot.
Personality of the Week
Acharya Vishnugupt or Chanakya
A master politician, a great scholar, visionary, a fierce patriot and a formidable foe to the enemies of Dharma - Chanakya and his lessons are valid even today.
Tales of Chandragupt's ascent as the Emperor of India are replete with several brilliant ideas and philosophies, implemented by Chanakya.
The Artha Shastra is a brilliant treatise for how a ruler should administer a country or organization.
One small example is the 'Timetable for a King'. According to this, a King has to wake up at 1:30 am, after a 4 and half hour sleep schedule and take care of all matters for the kingdom, the people and for himself.
Here is a breakdown of the 24 hrs of the day, split into 16 sections of 1 and half hours each.
Main Content of the Week
Basic Facts:
The main content covered this week was "Basic Facts".
The following were some of the facts that we discussed:
India's population is 1.4 Billion
Functioning as a Parliamentary Democracy, India is the largest democracy in the world
Elections in India are considered the biggest spectacle of Democracy - It is the largest election in the planet.
As per figures from 2019, 900 million people were eligible to vote. For comparison sake, the population of the US is 327 million.
There were 1 million polling stations, with 10 million polling officials.
Not just big cities and metros, elections are held largely peacefully in small villages, talukas and towns.
The Indian culture is a Vedic culture and is the longest civilization that is still going on strong.
Varanasi is considered the oldest and longest continuously inhabited city in the world.
The Peacock, Hockey, Lotus, Mango & Tiger are considered the National Bird, Sport, Flower, Fruit & Animal of India, respectively.
"Jan Gan Man" is the National Anthem & "Vande Mataram" is the National Song of India.
The Tricolor consists of 3 colors - Saffron, White & Green, with the Ashoka Chakra and the 24 spokes inside it. This Chakra is also referred to, as the Dharma Chakra.
Did You Know ?
India is known by 3 names:
India
Bharat
Hindustan
Let's Play
Today we played a popular game called "Kho Kho". Here is a short video explaining the rules.
The kids had a great time. :-)
Hari Om !!