The students of Vivekdeep were eagerly waiting for this day to showcase their creative talent. Since Raksha Bandhan and Independence Day coincided this year, Vivekdeep decided to celebrate the 73rd Independence Day of India on Sunday, 11th Aug 2019 instead of the usual date of 15th Aug.
Dressed in spotless white and bubbling with patriotic fervour, the students started gathering at the premises as early as 8.30am. After all, it was their day that they have been rehearsing for, for past one month. The entire area was beautifully decorated with flags, balloons, paper streamers and presented a festive look.
As scheduled, the function started at 10am with Vande Mataram. Boys and girls rendered the well known composition with a tinge of Sa Ra Ga Ma, that transported the audience to a higher level of exuberance.
Thereafter the great patriotic poet Sh. Subrahmaniam Bharti’s famous poem “The Wind” was presented by the girls in English. The poem originally written in Tamil, gives a strong analogy between the destructive nature of the wind, but how it fans a large fire to a larger one; with the need of making ourselves strong to acquire freedom from the atrocities of the British rulers.
Next in line was a Hindi poem “Awaaz ek jab gunjegi” recited by the boys, depicting the importance of our remaining united to protect the independence of our country that has been achieved by the sacrifices of our numerous freedom fighters.
Both the poems were highly appreciated because of their flawless pronunciation, animated gestures and lively delivery.
It was time for another act of novelty. 10 powerful quotations of Swami Vivekananda were presented by a group of girls in the form of Dumb-charade while the audio was relayed live from the wings of the stage, but completely out of sight. The physical gestures were impeccable and time management with the audio was superbly synchronised. Needless to say, the audience was enthralled by this excellent presentation.
The final event was a drama based on a recent event of a fisherman surviving in Bay of Bengal for unbelievable five days after his boat capsized in the storm, and ultimately rescued by a patrolling ship. The drama ended with a poem by Sh Sohanlal Dwivedi on ‘the person who perseveres never loses’.
After the performance of the students, it was time for the President of Sri Ramakrishna Sangha, Shri Rajib Roy to address the gathering. Shri Roy thanked the students and staff for their utmost dedication in making the event a success. He highlighted that the discipline, self-confidence and high level of maturity shown by the students is the result of persistent efforts put in by the resource persons of Vivekdeep for the past 5 years. He also mentioned that one of the two new objectives of Vivekdeep i.e. starting a Spoken English Class has been met, and the second one – commencing Computer Classes is going to start very soon. This achievement of Vivekdeep received a thunderous applause from the audience.
Shri Roy beautifully summed up the importance of Raksha Bandhan after that. He said, since this year Raksha Bandhan and Independence Day have coincided, it was decided to celebrate Independence Day 4 days in advance. He pointed out that all the students of Vivekdeep were wearing a tri-colour rakhi. During the festival of Raksha Bandhan, normally a vow is taken by the brother to protect their sisters. Today, all the students are taking a vow that they would grow up to lead a noble life, and they would live not only for themselves but for the society and country at large. It was heartily greeted by the students and their parents alike.
The program ended with National Anthem. It was an enthusiastic gathering of students, parents, well wishers and friends of Vivekdeep who had travelled far and wide to attend the function.
