Julius Caesar and Swami Vivekananda came together at the annual exhibition of Hariyana Vidya Mandir, standing not quite shoulder to shoulder but sharing space all the same.

The participating students trooped in early. One could easily make out that they were nervous and excited to be able to show their creations. With different classrooms allotted to English, social science, mathematics, science, Hindi and Bengali sections, the exhibition was a grand affair.

The English section, having exhibits made mainly by Class VIII and IX students, centred around Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man and Julius Caesar. The models on every age in man’s life were perfect visual representations of the poem and were the work of Class VIII students.

The Class IX students took the credit for creating a Julius Caesar photo film, the first of its kind in our school. The idea of having Caesar’s life flash by in front of their eyes by looking into a small, illuminated box containing pictures and turning a knob, gripped the audience. Gathering the photos from a variety of books and the internet was no small task. Abhishek Shaw, one of the Class IX boys, explained: “We made this using a cardboard and a bulb, for illumination. A circular roller was connected to an external knob and the pictures, glued together in sequence to form a long strip, were wrapped around it. Now all one has to do is to turn the knob and watch.”

The social science section had its own story to tell, with an almost exact replica of the Parliament as the centrepiece. The students were happy to see that their efforts were paying off in the form of a constant stream of visitors coming into the room, mainly to see the Parliament. The real Parliament has three semicircular chambers and a library, but this one had only one. On being asked about this, they said: “It was quite difficult to handle such a big model made out of thermocol and cardboards. Making more chambers would have made it harder for us, so we made only one.”

Entry into the science section was in itself very interesting. With many informative posters adorning the doorway, anyone entering was bound to become wiser. Among the working models of volcanoes, periscopes, bacteria and the human digestive system, the one exhibit that stood out was a robot, made by a Class VIII student. With its swivelling head and arms, the flashing lights on its body, and a mischievous expression on its face, it stole the show.

The math section had various puzzles that teased the visitor’s brains. Did you know that 4 is the only number which is twice of its square root? Or that 2 is the only even prime number? These were some of the many interesting tit bits which one learnt in the math section.

The model which received maximum attention was a life-size figure of Swami Vivekananda to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary. It was made by students of Class X. From being a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna to his Chicago journey, every stage was meticulously displayed and explained in the accompanying charts.

As the day progressed, the crowd swelled. The enthusiasm of both the visitors and the students was awe-inspiring.

At the end, the students walked out with their heads high, having tackled tricky questions from visitors all day and slaked their thirst for knowledge.

— Debdeep Biswas & Subhankar Yadav,
Class XI, Hariyana Vidya Mandir