On Thursday July 16 , 2015, Staford School held a school celebration for the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr that will be celebrated on Saturday.
Eid-ul-fitr, the festival of breaking a thirty day fast after sighting the new moon is a festival of feasting and rejoicing. The school celebrated the event in special assemblies organized for the pre-primary and primary section.
The special assembly was organized to give the children an insight into India’s cultural heritage and help them realize that celebrations transcend race and religion; that true joy comes from giving and sharing, from love and respect. The traditional festivities of Eid and the Lucknawi andaz of celebrating it were also in focus.
The pre-primary section came dressed in colourful traditional outfits which added to the festive mood. The celebrations began with the offering of Paan to our Principal Ma’am as is the culture and tradition of the city of Lucknow. An array of musical items and skits was initiated with a calming chorus titled ‘Eid Aai Hai’ composed by the Music teacher Mr.Anuj Yadav.The song which recounted the blessings of life was sung melodiously by the lovely children of class 3. Next on stage were the lovely tiny tots of class Nursery and KG who won everyone’s heart by performing on the popular Urdu hymn ‘Lab pe aati hai dua ban ke tammanna meri.’ Next was the dance performance by class 2 children on the song ‘Mubarak Eid Mubarak’ who looked beautiful in gararas and kurta pyjamas.Then came a mesmerizing Sufi dance performance from the children of class 1 on the mellifluous songs ‘Khwaja mere Khwaja’ and ‘Kun faaya kun.’ Class 3 presented a skit on the teachings of Islam and the significance of the holy festival.Their performance brought home the message of helping others helps you become a better human being.
Children from class IV to class VIII too had a bouquet of presentations for Eid and participated in the celebration with great zeal and enthusiasm.
Their special Eid assembly began with the recitation of a Quranic verse read by Azeem Hasan of class VIII, the meaning of which was explained by Mr. Shiraz.The thought provoking verse drew the attention of the audience to the blessings of the almighty and how HE takes care of his children by giving them all pleasures of this world and beyond. The programme then moved on to the rendition of a Hamd -a poetic piece in praise of God- by Umama and Nausheen of class VIII A. The hamd taught everyone to be thankful for the endless blessings bestowed on us by God. Next, Priya and Iqra of class 5A elucidated the importance and relevance of celebrating the festival and helped children understand the meaning of Eid festivities better. Their informative speech was followed by a song presentation by the students of class IV A and B. The song “Let us rejoice indeed for this is the day of Eid” filled the air with the joys associated with this festival. Giving alms, and performing deeds of charity during the month of Ramadan are considered noble virtues and a must do. A skit, entitled “Sachchi Eid,” based on this theme was very well performed by the students of class VI A. Aastha, Adarsh and Matriyee of class V A recited a poem titled “Alvida ” which said goodbye to the holy month of Ramadan.
The assembly concluded with a qawwali by the boys and girls of class VIII A which spoke about the transience of human life and the need to use each moment well.
The celebrations closed with words of appreciation and a summation of the essence Eid celebrations by our Principal ma’am who iterated the importance of purifying our hearts to receive the blessings of God, and learning to experience joy through giving and sharing.
The children took home with them the memories of a wonderful celebration, the warmth of love, the sweetness of sewain that was distributed to all the children. The tiny tots carried home an extra special token of paper made moon and stars to remind them of the Eid celebrations.