by Sayali Patare
PUNE, JULY 27, 2018: Don Bosco Primary School, Pune, on the feast day of Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mother Mary, organised Grandparents Day on July 26 in the school hall.
The students made the most of this opportunity and expressed their gratitude towards grandparents for ceaselessly being a strong moral support and making a difference in every grandchild's life. The programme was a special assembly by students of standard four, under the guidance of their class teacher and Principal, Father Bosco D'Mello.
The students enthusiastically acted, swayed, sang and gave their best on this occasion. What drew everyone's attention was the video produced by Aarti Katore, a teacher, and her students which consisted images of grandparents and their grandchildren. The grandparents were nostalgic and had tears in their eyes.
Grandparents also enthusiastically performed on stage. Joseph Sakare, a grandparent, sang the song, 'Jina yaha, marna yaha, iske siva jana kaha' by dressing up like actor, Raj Kapoor.
"Teachers at Don Bosco are gurus who have instilled the virtue of respecting elders into the little minds," Nilesh Randir, a grandparent, said. Sunanda Nikam, another grandparent, added, "I am privileged that my grandchildren are students in Don Bosco, the institute which instils good values in their students."
"I am overwhelmed with the kind of gratitude the students and the school is showing towards us. Today we realised that we aren't the forgotten heroes," Suresh Gharde, a grandparent, said. A student, Dhanviraj Komanapalli, from standard one, said, "I am happy that grandpa has come for the first time to see my new school."
Fun games were arranged by Father D'Mello and the school staff for all the grandparents and each of them participated with zest to win back gifts for their little ones.
Himanshu Agarwal, from standard seven and Pranali Lavahate from standard three claimed bicycles as awards for the 'Fifa World Cup Prediction'. The students had been predicting the winner of the World Cup, and goal scores for every football match held in Russia. The intention of this game was to add to their knowledge of sports and global geography.
Sangeeta Patil, a teacher, thanked all the grandparents for their presence and all the wonderful performances by them and the students.