Students of Genius Kids perform at their first annual show at the Science City auditorium on February 20. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

These kids gave a more contemporary touch to Jungle Book. Their play, with the same name, was all about fighting terrorism. Sher Khan was depicted as the terror of the jungle trying to kill Mowgli, who represented the young India that needed protection.

The play concludes with all the animals of the jungle unitedly fighting Sher Khan to save Mowgli or India.

The audience broke into a loud applause at the end of the performance. Considering that these actors were toddlers, they did a great job on stage and even off it. The dialogues, for instance, were also conceived by children between two and four years.

The play was part of a cultural extravaganza, “Little Genius Show”, organised by the primary school-cum-activity-centre Genius Kids at the Science City auditorium on February 20.

“At Genius Kids, the emphasis is on developing the imagination of the children, rather than on bookish knowledge,” said Vikas Kumar Singh, the school’s director, at their first annual cultural programme.

The evening also saw students receiving prizes for excellence in the fields of art and craft, quiz, yoga, fancy dress and other competitions.

The events started off with a classical dance performance by the students and teachers.

Children of the junior and senior Kindergarten Day Care section made a pretty picture as they danced to the Rabindrasangeet Phoole phoole, dressed in white costumes, complete with white headbands.

“It felt so good,” squealed an excited Abhijat Chowdhury, a student of Junior Kindergarten, on his first experience on stage.

Soon, another group took over, dancing to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in shiny silver costumes. Children of Nursery II swayed to Lal Jhuti Kakatua and Machli Jal Ki Rani Hai, as slideshows of animation images were projected in the background.

But the most colourful performance of the day was Lakdi Ki Kathi, where the students danced in colourful lehengas and dhoti-kurtas. So energetic was their performance that the audience soon began clapping to the beat.

Taare Zameen Par was the second play staged by the students. The theme was how education leads one to true wisdom and happiness.

It was a proud moment for Agnibh Bhattacharya, a Class II student of BD Memorial Institute, who was praised for his role as the teacher in the play. Agnibh learns drama at Genius Kids. Shayandeep Roy, a Class I student of St Lawrence High School, played the student.

The guests at the event included police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti, the managing director of Patton, Sanjay Budhia, and the head of the Annex Group of Institutions, Shikha Singh.

Doel Bose

CHIT CHAT

An award ceremony at Joseph Day School. L. Davis, the senior-most teacher of the school, was felicitated by Revd P.S.P. Raju

Reading Day

The students of Birla High School for Girls observed Reading Day recently, in association with Scholastic Publishing House. The students from Nursery to Class XII devoted one period of the day to reading out stories from books of their choice. Their teachers also read out extracts to inspire them. The reading session turned out to be fun and helped instil confidence in the students.

Anukriti Prasad
Class VI, Birla High School for Girls