Hari om everyone,
Today being the last class of the year, we started as usual with gitaa chanting (chapter 2). We have done this diligently from the very first day of class until the last day of the year! Our students have become very fluent and we are very proud of their accomplishment in this regard.
We saw a brief overview of what we have discussed this past year – Our topic for the year was the last shaTkam of the bhagavadgeeta, which means the last 6 of the 18 chapters of bhagavadgeeta. We have learned the topics well and our class had even presented chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16 recently (We hadn't finished 17 and 18 at that time).
We reminisced about some concepts we had discussed such as the three guNas and their influences on our actions, non-attachment, the upside-down tree representing the material world and so on. We discussed, in short, the nature of reality and the shortcomings of the material world. Krishna entreats us to detach from the ever-changing fortunes/misfortunes of the material world and focus on the eternal and divine. Krishna lays out several ways to liberate ourselves depending on our dispositions. We revisited the fact that we are our best competition and have to constantly strive to elevate ourselves, one day at a time!
Many fondly recalled their experiences teaching the younger grades; their project work as teams; how they bonded over the year and the topics that struck a chord with them!
They shared with us their experiences of highly inquisitive and energetic students youngsters whom they taught. It seems that our sophomores and juniors are looking forward to teaching next year as well!
They recollected some of the topics they enjoyed learning during the year. Some even shared their anxieties about the race for grades! We then figured that the rat race doesn't end with getting into a good college... Keeping up the grades at college is essential as well... Doesn't stop there either...! We have to work towards getting a job..., then again, have to prove ourselves in the new work environment...! Where does this end...? Retirement?! One of them rightly pointed, even then, I guess we have to strive towards staying alive!! :). In that case, looks like there are only 2 kinds of people who don't have any troubles... The ones who are not born yet and the ones who have gone already...!! So we decided, it is better to learn to live a calm and contented lifestyle, no matter what stage of life we are in! Getting anxious will not take us far, but working objectively will help us enjoy the journey of our life!!!
We then spent our time playing some games to mark a fun last class; tested our memories by playing a 'memory game' and revealed some interesting/fun facts about ourselves to our fellow classmates in a game of '2 truths and a lie' :).
Overall, it was a fantastic year and our students coped very well despite the online mode of instruction. They were diligent in attending the classes and participating in all the class activities - gitaa chanting, class presentation, teaching assignment in younger grades, discussions, to name a few.
We are super proud of our students. We are positive that they are shaping into wonderful, compassionate and responsible young adults who will be great assets to society!
We wish everyone a great summer break and a wonderful onward journey into college for all our seniors! Take care and stay safe.
Regards,
Rashmi and Raghav.
