Victorious Kidss Educares (VKE) celebrated India’s 70th Independence Day on Monday the 15th of August 2016. The programme was attended by the students, teachers, parents, grand parents and other staff members. The school was beautifully decorated and there was a feeling of pride amidst the crowd. The whole event was hosted by the PYP (Primary Years Programme) students of Victorious Kidss Educares.

Our Honorable Chief Guest, Mr. Nishith Shekdar of Shekdar International, hoisted the National Flag and addressed the audience. In his speech, he shared his knowledge that ‘India is in for a big time. He provoked the children to dream big. He stated, “Think Big, Dream Big and then Go ahead!” He said, we as Indians should work hard with loyalty, as we enter primary, secondary education and graduation; and stated that he was very happy to see that Victorious Kidss Educares provides holistic development to children who grow up to become brilliant humans. He said, “It is time to decide what you want to become, who is your role model? The sky is the limit.” The event was then followed by brilliant dance performances and patriotic singing. There was a role play depicting freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh. Overall, the students put up an impressive show that was appreciated by all.

The programme concluded with a speech by Sir Robbin Ghosh, the President of the School. In his speech, the President emphasised on the meaning of ‘Independence’, which truly, as per ancient ‘Vedanta’ meant freedom from ignorance. He mentioned that India has a rich heritage of roots in ancient Vedanta. It is the only country in the world which has never invaded any other country. India was the wealthiest country in the world, before it was conquered, by the Western colonial powers, since 326 BC. The British invaded India and changed our educational system to a curriculum driven one. We all know, how to read and write, but very few really love to read and write. This is because we are ignorant. We have forgotten the concept based learning that our Gurus and Rishis from ancient India, had taught us. Thus, Victorious Kidss Educares couples the latest of the International Baccalaureate (IB) pedagogy with the ancient Vedantic philosophy, keeping in mind the rich heritage of ancient India, to bring out the best in all the children.

Children are the ones who would be there to lead, as the future generation, for India to conquer the rest of the World and make her niche’ place in the rest of the world. As this has already been predicted, in the Bhagavad Gita by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, ‘God talks with Arjuna’ – Chapter II, Volume I, Verse 31, Page 246, I quote “India the conquered would conquer her conquerors in the 21st Century” I unquote. These children are the ones who would lead the country in this 21st Century. We should imbibe in our children the values of Truth, Purity and Honesty. Our President motivated us to dream big and said if we follow three basic principles, we can achieve anything we dream of. These principles are: Always speak the truth, don’t tell lies, Have Faith in God and Have Faith in Yourself. We, as teachers and parents need to establish within us the power of truth and spread it to our kids. We at VKE are guided to respect everyone’s practices and religions; this open mindedness to accept all religion, has been the core value of Independent India, the ‘Sanatan Dharma’. These are the teachings of International Mindedness of IB and of rich heritage of Vedanta, taught to our kids.

After the President’s speech, our students gave a vote of thanks. The ‘Vande Mataram’ was played to end the event on a patriotic note, after which everyone walked out as proud Indians.