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| Students of Bal Bharti New Patna Montessori School perform a havan for Team India at Gardanibagh on Friday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh |
Patna, Feb. 18: The cricket World Cup fever has gripped young and old in the state capital.
Supporters of all ages are praying for the victory of the Indian cricket team which will take on Bangladesh in the first game of the series to be played on Saturday.
Students of Bal Bharti New Patna Montessori School, along with their teachers, performed a havan on the school premises at Gardanibagh today for the victory of Team India at the World Cup.
The children, with banners in their hands and flags painted on their faces, chanted slogans for victory of their team.
Cheers of “bat or ball but never fall” and “East or West, India is the best” filled the air as students held posters of Dhoni and Sachin and wished the best for the team.
Pragya Jha, a Class IV student, said: “We are praying that Team India perform well in all their matches. I am a great fan of Dhoni and I wish he hits sixes on each ball. I want the Cup to come to our country and I wish our team the best.”
Pratik Anand of Class V said: “We are performing a special havan for Team India. We believe that the havan will boost the fortunes of the team at the World Cup.
“I saw India’s practice matches and thought they performed really well. I want them to continue this throughout the tournament so that they win the Cup without any difficulty,” Anand added.
The school authorities also pitched in to help the students.
They arranged for a priest who performed the havan while the students and teachers attended it. The students were even heard chanting slogans like “Om World Cup jeeto bhavah” and “Dhoni World Cup layo bhavah”.
Sneha Kumari, a Class IV student, wore painted tattoos of the Cup at the havan and looked very confident about the chances of the Indian team. She said: “The team is in a really good form and we hope they won’t disappoint us. Our best wishes are always with the team,” she said.
Vandana Nitish, a teacher, said: “Puja and havans are ceremonial rituals aimed to solicit divine help. The puja brigades get cracking every time there is a major cricket event — praising the gods is considered a sure way to guarantee the team’s success.”
Principal Sushila Sinha also gave her best wishes to Team India. She said: “I convey my best wishes to the team and I look forward to cheer our men-in-blue at the World Cup.”