A girl from the US played the keyboard, another from Vietnam displayed a greeting card that she had made and several others from India sang Christmas carols.
The reason: To spread the Christmas cheer, albeit online, during the pandemic.
Indus Valley World School had launched a project recently inviting schools to send their entries on Christmas and the result was a resplendent collection. The repertoire was pieced together by the school and played for an old age home in the city in the run up to Christmas.
“Christmas, we know, is a time to be cheerful and one does feel the joy despite the circumstances. We thought we should give our children an opportunity where they can not only experience the joys of the season but share it with others,” said Amita Prasad, director of Indus Valley World School.
Whether it is Hanoi or Jodhpur, what binds people is music or art which is “truly universal.”
“Unity and diversity are not just topics in a textbook. The true meaning is taught when students participate in such projects. They come together and share ideas. This binds people together irrespective of the language they speak or the religion they follow,” said Prasad.
For a girl in Hanoi who made a greeting card and read out what she had written encapsulated the feeling that any child in any part of the world would feel. She said: “Did you decorate your house? What toys did you wish for Christmas? There are many types of toys and I don’t know what to choose.”
For those in the old age home and could not neither step out nor invite anyone to spend time with them because of the pandemic, the online presentation was a window to the world.
“We prepared a video file and gave it to the home which the residents could watch at their leisure. We also sent them cakes as gift,” said a teacher.
The cakes were bought from what the children collected by baking cakes and selling it to their teachers.
The entries were strictly non competitive in nature and the idea was to wean students from competing in everything that they do. “Not everything should be done for prizes, some things should be done for the mere joy of it,” said Prasad.
