Students perform at the annual day function at SK Memorial Hall in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Feb. 16: Students of St Joseph’s Prep School won over the audience at its 37th annual day celebrations organised at SK Memorial Hall today.

The students showed no signs of nervousness as they performed in front of an audience of nearly 2,000 people. Paresh Saxena, the deputy inspector-general of Bihar Police Academy, Patna, and retired IAS officer Shyam Shekhar Lal graced the occasion that was presided by the school’s director Urmila Sharan Singh.

Lal said: “As I saw the children performing, I remembered my childhood. The little ones were so spontaneous in their performances.”

The event started off with an instrumental performance by Bhaskar Roy, a Class V student. Bhaskar played old Hindi film numbers like Yeh mera dil in his own style. Next came Risabh, Priya, Sriyam and Anumeta — nursery students — who chanted the Gayatri mantra. Singh said: “Three-year-olds chanted the Gayatri mantra. That is something I could never do when I was their age. It was very exciting to watch their performances.”

Kindergarten students also performed to Dil hai chhota sa from Roja, choreographed by their teachers Reena Sinha and Geeta Verma.

Sinha said: “The students have been rehearsing for the past 16 days. They did make mistakes and complained but we were never strict with them. We tried to make it fun for them to catch their interest. After all, we have to be like them if we want to convince them to do something.”

Singh said: “It hardly matters if they make mistakes today. What is commendable is that they are performing in front of such a huge crowd.”

The day continued with performances by the nursery students who conjured up a fairytale world for the spectators as they performed to Saat rang ki saat pariyan aasman se aayi hain. Class VIII students — Pratik, Harsh, Gulfam and Sumanto — also regaled the audience with their bhangra performance.

Students of classes I to IX also presented a play on the life of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. While Neha was Lakshmibai, Komal played the child Lakshmibai and Akshay played the role of Tantia Tope. S.A. Mallick, a teacher who directed the students, said: “A child can portray any emotion beautifully. I was impressed to see how real the performances of the students were. You only have to push them if you want them to succeed.”