Ashima Sharma, 13th August, 2014, New Shimla, Shimla
The staff and students of Orchid Prep School gathered to celebrate the 68th Independence Day of our nation with the members of the Inner Wheel Club, Shimla, on Wednesday, 13th August, 2014. The chief guest for the event was the president of the Inner Wheel Club, Monika Kapoor.
The programme began with singing of the national anthem. Principal Neelam Vij warmly welcomed all gathered and said a few words about the Independence and what it meant, and she also recited few lines written by Rabindranath Tagore —
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”
The chief guest then took the stage and expressed their views and said, “I thank Principal Vij for inviting us here today. It has always been a pleasure to be among the tiny tots. I hope and wish that all our children learn to respect and love our country. She ended her speech by raising the slogan ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ ”.
To keep alive the flame of patriotism, the students performed a patriotic dance on the song ‘Desh Rangeela’ and rendered a patriotic song that awakened everyone’s feelings towards our motherland.
Then the tiny tots marched all the way to the tunes of ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaae Ja’. The programme formally ended with the prize distribution by the Chief Guest for competitions held a few days prior to the event. These were recitation and flag making by the children. The chief guest added, “This day always reminds me of the untold sacrifices of the fighters of freedom”.
The winners of the competition were FIRST: Khushwant, Naveen and Rohan; SECOND: Ananya, Aratrika and Arushi; THIRD: Aarav; Consolation Prizes: Neelaksh, Anrav, Kamya.
As part of the celebrations chocolates were distributed to all the students on this occasion.
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