On the occasion of UN International Day of Peace, PEACE CC from west zone, India organized Peace celebration event at KES' Shree Mumbadevi Vidya Mandir a leading school from western suburbs of Mumbai having both state level and IGCSE board as part of their curriculum. The event was organized on Sept. 19th, 2014.
A week before the event a drawing competition was organized for high school children from fifth to ninth grade by the Principal of the school, Mrs. Prema Rajindran, a PEACE member. The children were given different Peace themes and were asked to do sketches that would express their thoughts about the theme. Several children were encouraged to take part in this competition and the best drawing in each division was to receive award on Sept. 19th, 2014. The sketches were evaluated by the school's drawing teacher and 10 children from different grades were chosen as award winners. They were to receive their award on Sept. 19th, the date chosen to celebrate International Day of Peace.
On this day, around 400 high school children gathered in the school auditorium. Then there were teachers, parents of award winners, some members of Parent Teachers' Association(PTA), including the vice president of PTA who participated in the event. I was invited as a chief guest to address the gathering. The drawings of the winners were displayed as exhibits on the stage. In addition, children and teachers combined had prepared few banners with peace messages from different messengers of Peace and these were also displayed on the stage.
In her welcome address, the Principal said, this was the first time that their school was organizing such a program and that too on the occasion of International Day of Peace. She said, the children of the school were very happy to participate in the competition and the event and that it was encouraging to see them.
In my chief guest talk, I highlighted on the need for daily Peace in the life of children and that parents and teachers have an important role to play. I requested the children and the teachers to recite daily the shanti mantra from krishna Yajurveda Taittiriya Upanishad and reflect on their sacred relation to nurture peace. The mantra was translated as
Om, May God Protect us Both (the Teacher and the Student)
May God Nourish us Both
May we Work Together with Energy and Vigour
May our Study be Enlightening, not giving rise to Hostility
Om, Peace, Peace, Peace.
I also said, as such there is no definite syllabus for Peace unlike other subjects that are laid down in school curriculum, but that doesn't mean that Peace has to be ignored. Pointing to the banner displayed in the stage, which read, 'We must be the change we wish to see in the world', I expressed that they will become true if children practice the process of peace from their school days. Subsequently the future of the world will be bright. Hence teachers and parents have major responsibility to undertake in terms of inculcating Peace in the children from their early schooling years.
Later, during the prize distribution ceremony, the winners of the competition were invited one at a time to speak for two minutes about their thoughts on Peace which they had wonderfully expressed through sketches. After this, all the children were invited to the stage in batches to have a look at Peace exhibits.
Overall, it was a happy experience for each one who had come for the event. The vice president of PTA, requested me to have such gathering for Parents and Teachers Association, so that they can be educated to guide the children on Peace practices.
