Bhavans Indian Education School, Kuwait, magnificently celebrated its Annual Day christened ‘Bharateeyam’ – an event all the Bhavanites had been awaiting with utmost anticipation and excitement – on January 15, 2022. It was a momentous occasion of festivity and felicitation when the students assuredly presented not only their outstanding and spirited performances but also proudly received special honours for their curricular achievements. The event staged in the school auditorium was streamed live on the school’s Facebook page.
The event started at 9.30 a.m. with the soul-soothing recitation of a few verses from the Holy Quran, followed by the national anthem of Kuwait. The ceremonial lamp was virtually lit by Mr. N.K. Ramachandran Menon, Chairman, Bhavans Middle East, Madam Sudha Ramachandran, CA Sooraj Ramachandran, Vice Chairman, Bhavans Middle East, CA Divya Rajesh Ramachandran, Director, Bhavans Middle East, and Mr. T. Premkumar, Principal, IES.
Following the prayer song and the Bhavans anthem by the school choir, Lakshmi Sahiti, Vice President, Student Parliament, congenially welcomed the august gathering consisting of the management team of Bhavans Middle East, the senior leadership teams and the staff of all the Bhavans schools in the Middle East, and the parents and the students of IES. As an expression of gratitude and as a gesture of seeking the blessings of the almighty, an invocation dance was performed by a group of students, letting the spectators submerge in the ocean of divinity.
The annual report, mainly sketching the achievements of IES, presented by Mr. T. Premkumar, Principal, IES, also helped the spectators have a sneak peek into resounding success of Bhavanites in the domains of curricular and co-curricular activities during the academic session 2021-22.
‘Korero 2022’, a unique and novel panel discussion consisting of the panelists from the parent community, Ms. Geetha Rajesh Pai, Assistant Finance Manager, Jazeera Airways, Ms. Suchitra Sen, Head of Examinations, British Council, Kuwait, Toastmaster Shibu Alex, a motivational speaker and entrepreneur, and the Vice Principals of IES, Ms. Anselma Tessy Judeson and Ms. Meenakshi Nayyar, was indeed thought-provoking on every count and by any metric on the inclusion of life skills in the academic curriculum. The discussion was moderated by Jerome John Thomas and Simone Trikha of grade 12. The Vice Principals, who were also the panelists, briefed about the laudable initiatives of IES in integrating life skills into its teaching-learning process breaking the molds of conventional rote learning. For the spectators, it was indeed a pleasure listening to the convergence of noble thoughts expressed by the panelists par excellence from the parent community and the educators at IES.
The annual school magazine, ‘Tejas’, that offers ample opportunities to the young budding writers and artists of IES to soar high with the wings of creativity in the world of imagination, flaunting their literary and artistic acumen, was virtually released by the distinguished dignitaries of the day.
Mr. N.K. Ramachandran Menon, Chairman, Bhavans Middle East, while addressing the gathering, congratulated the entire team of IES for organizing the event. CA Divya Rajesh Ramachandran, Director, Bhavans Middle East, congratulated Team IES for organizing the celebration themed Bharateeyam, and she emphasized that all should appreciate their country’s history, culture, heritage and social environment in order to understand themselves better. She addressed the students, saying that they should learn about their country at the right age and should be proud of it. She also advised them to grab opportunities, be open to feedback and walk out into the world with confidence, spreading the goodness of their country. While ending the speech, she directed the students not to give up while facing challenges and asked them to be curious, letting everything to be a matter of interest.
The mercury of excitement and merriment steadily rose to the pinnacle and then exploded when the curtains paved way for the visual extravaganza, ‘Bharateeyam-a journey to the heart of incredible India’, a cultural fusion of dance and music by 110 talented artistes colorfully depicting the dance forms of 15 Indian states. The spectators were awestruck, and they appreciated the performers with lavish praise. Ms. Sandhya Babu (Department of Social Science) and Mr. Shylesh V. (Department of English) were the directors of the mega show.
After the breathtaking cultural show, a virtual award ceremony hosted by Ms. Hima Nirmal, Subject Coordinator, Department of English, was held in the presence of the dignitaries to honor the academic toppers of IES Kuwait for the incredible results they had reaped in the Grade 10 and Grade 12 CBSE Board Examinations 2021. The school topper from grade 10, Ethan Bobby Kurien (99.4%), and the topper holding the second position, Lakshmi Sahiti Vallabhaneni (99.2%) and the third position holders, Krishna Chillirickal Anil and Shrihari Badrinarayanan (99%) were virtually honored. The grade 12 toppers who received honours were: Science Stream – Malavika Krishna (99%), Umm E Hani and Manushree Pavan Kumar (98.6%), Liana Maria Joseph, Shivanni V, and Varun Menon (97.8%), Commerce Stream - Arundhati Vinod Sharma (98.4%), Sreenath Prithviraj (97.8%) and Emma Maria Ben (97.6%) and Humanities Stream - Aaron Yohan Thomas (97.6%), Neha Ann Daniel (96.6%) and Tanisha Ruth Sunil (93.6%).
After the vote of thanks proposed by Srihari Badrinarayanan, Vice President, Student Parliament, the program came to an end with the singing of the national anthem of India. The emcees of the day were Fida Ancy (9A), Josh Savyo (11C), Abhipsa Panda (10F) and Joel Dan Shibu (11C). The whole event was held in such a manner that the students who participated in it had many a reason to preen themselves on their impressive performances, and the others who watched the show were full of praise for the mega event and felt elated, knowing more about their homeland- India. The performers were extolled by the principal for their extraordinary aplomb in putting up a good show in an impressive manner. He also thanked the management of Bhavans Middle East for its unstinting support in organizing the eventful day.
Thus, another historic day in the life of every Bhavanite ended on a high note, paving the way for another exceptional academic year.