Students of Tender Hearts International perform Krishnaleela while (below) little Krishna and his friend display placards in support of Anna Hazare at a pre-Janmashtami celebration on the institute premises on Friday. Pictures by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Aug. 19: Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign received a “divine fillip” today when little Krishna and Radha donned Gandhi topi and raised slogans in support of the social activist at Tender Hearts International.

The occasion was Janmashtami celebrations on the school premises and children from playgroup to Class V came dressed as Krishna, Radha, Janaki, Basudev, Krishna sakha (friends) and gopis to perform Krishnaleela.

Around 30 children performed makhanchori, matkiphor and other activities Lord Krishna is believed to have indulged in as a child. While Shreeyash, Rishi, Harshit, Sparsh Raj, Siddharth, Abhinav played the role of Krishna, Bhoomi, Shreya, Akshiya, Ankita and Kashish Raj dressed up like Radha.

Jeet Pankaj played the part of Balram and Akshat dressed up as Sudama.

Teachers, too, showed a lot of enthusiasm in dressing up the children and doing their make-up.

Nabonita Banerjee, a teacher, said: “It was great fun to prepare for the activity with the students. They are very energetic. Almost all the participants were here by 8am. It took us around two-and-a-half hours to dress them up. They waited patiently and did not look tired even for a moment during the celebrations. Even when we were doing their make-up, the children were alert and telling us if we had missed a part of the make-up which someone else was wearing. The children were very natural while getting involved in activities like matkaphor and Krishnaleela.”

“It looked like all the children had turned into real Krishnas, Radhas and gopis,” Nabonita added.

Ankita Khetan, a Class V student who played the role of Yashoda, said, “It was very exciting to take part in Krishnaleela. I was rehearsing my part at my home since yesterday. The best part in my act was when I pulled the ears of little Krishna when he was caught in some mischief.”

The celebrations ended with a message for the audience when the little Krishnas, Radhas and gopis, donning Gandhi topis and holding placards that read “Main Hun Anna”, “Anna is our hero”, “Lokpal Bill Lagu Karo”, gathered on the stage.

The organiser of the event said the exercise was planned to send across the message that people of all ages are with Anna Hazare and his noble mission.

“Today, we are celebrating Krishna Janmashtami. Krishna is known for his endeavour to make truth and honesty win on Earth and Anna Hazareji is also doing a similar kind of thing by protesting against corruption. So, to let the children understand the importance of such issues, we envisaged this activity into today’s programme,” said Rajeev Bhargava, director of the school.