Monday, December 17, 2007

The Morning Assembly

The morning assembly at all central government schools in India is quite different than how most American schools start their day.

For starters everything is done outside. I made it a point to greet at least one teacher or student each day with "Aaj ka mosum bahout acha hai!" - which is Hindi for "The weather is very good today!" Indians don't know how good they have it.

The assembly begins at 8:30 AM with each class getting into neat rows while standing in front of a large stage. They start with a prayer which includes some mantras spoken in Sanskrit - the mother of all 28 Indian languages. Soon they switch into Hindi, the national language, and pray for open-mindedness and the willingness to learn. The prayer is followed by a pledge, which is spoken either in Hindi, Sanskrit, or English, depending on the day.

I took a video of the morning prayer which I then had translated by T. Virajita, the elder daughter of Dr. TAV Sharma, my exchange partner. She is 13 years old and a student at Kendriya Vidyalaya Tirumalagiri - my host school.



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Map of India

Map of India

About the Exchange

"The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship program in international educational exchange, was proposed to the U.S. Congress
in 1945 by then freshman Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. In the aftermath of World War II, Senator Fulbright viewed the proposed program as a much-needed vehicle for promoting "mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the world." His vision was approved by Congress and the program signed into law by President Truman in 1946.


Fulbright grants are made to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Since the program’s inception, approximately 279,500 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—with the opportunity to exchange ideas and to contribute to finding solutions to shared issues."


http://www.fulbrightexchanges.org.





Newsfeed Salad

a mix of Indian and US national and local news, and of course updates on Team India Cricket and the Boston Red Sox.