Rakshabhandan!

Here are Rajini and Manimala, and Prameela (teacher) demonstrating how we celebrate Rakshabandan. Rakshabandan is a day when sisters show affection for their brother by tying a Rakhi (woven bracelet). The tying of the Rakhi symbolizes that the sister is under the protection of her brother.

Beware the Ides of March (if you don't study)!

The 10th grade studied very hard for their board exams this March,

but they still found time to have a little fun.

Here we're about to enjoy Julius Caesar on video.

A Motley Crew

3rd, 4th and 5th grade boys love soccer practice!

2nd Grade Loves Nature Walks

Weekends are a great opportunity for (l-r) Madhubala, Nandini, Maria Sneha, Shree Shakthi and James to enjoy the beauty of Shanti Bhavan.

KG Cuties

Kindergarteners enjoy a beautiful weekend afternoon on the playground.

5th Grader Chethan leads PT Exercises

"When I am leading PT I feel nervous because everyone is watching me, but I also feel excited." -Chethan (5th Grade)

Kindergarteners Practicing their Plies

"Dance class is so fun, i like the music". -Thenmozhi (KG)

Kavitha and Vijay in Class

Kavitha (10th grade) cracking up during some free time.

Riddles, a MUST at Shanti Bhavan!

Bhavani (4th grade): The Master Riddle Smith.

Spooky Moves Under the Black Light

"We danced so much and the black light was very nice". - Berkmans (5th grade)

Shanti Bhavan Masquerade Artisans

Pushpa from the 11th grade modeling her artwork.

"It will be really cool to see my mask glowing in the dark". - Abilash (10th grade)

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

Ajay committed to win the spoon race on Halloween!

"It was so hard to hold the spoon with my teeth. I'm very happy my team won". - Ajay (4th grade)


Francis running in style during the Costume Relay Race!


"The churidar was so difficult to put on, but once it was on, I ran as fast as I could". - Francis (9th grade)


Kumar from the 9th grade captured these great moment during the Halloween carnival.

Halloween Dancing Fun!

"For Halloween, I danced to a scary song and I was a zombie...we all practiced a lot for the dance. It was really fun"! - Bharath (4th grade)

Happy Diwali!

7th graders enjoy a couple sparklers for Diwali at Shanti Bhavan earlier this week.

Grass Masala

"I'm sitting and making Masala. The Masala is grass. I make it with a rock." - Vikram (1st Grade)

Airborne

"I'm jumping from the extension building. I stay in the Gym dorm, but we were having class there. I'm not the best jumper but I'm pretty good." - Chetan (5th Grade)

Flower Children

"Some children plucked these flowers for us and I went and held them. These girls are my friends." Janani (4th grade) [also pictured: Nandini and Mary Sheela (4th grade)]

Organic Farmers

"We took a part of the stem of a banana plant by our dorm and planted it here. There were a lot of ants so we put anteseptic Neem leaves around the stump to keep the ants away from it." - Shakthivel 8th Grade [pictured: Akash (5th Grade), Puneeth and Babu (8th Grade).

Miss Premi's Hindi Class

"Here, Miss Premi is teaching us Hindi. She's drawing fruits. She is nice at teaching. My favorite subject is actually Hindi." - Vasanth (2nd Grade)

"We built this tractor for a social studies play. It was a project about the grasslands of the world. I took the design from the tractor I saw at Shanti Bhavan and ones I've seen in movies." - Arun V, Fifth Grade. [Also pictured: Arun Kumar, Richard, Rajesh, Rahul]

One Legged Jumping

"We play Hop-Scotch holding our leg. We draw some boxes and throw a stone in the first box. Then we must jump over that box. I play with Nitya and some other girls at P.T. time." - Tulsi Priya, Second Grade.

Aunti Annie

"Aunti Annie is our school nurse and she takes care of us very well. We were 8-years-old when she was our house mother. She is loving and she is from Ooty, Tamil Nadu." - Bhavani, Fourth Grade [Pictured: Bhavani, Bhavana, Yesheshwini, Auntie Annie]

Side Coach and Rainbow

"I was the side coach for the big soccer match. I was showing when it was an 'out-ball'. Mr Daniel had me as side coach for the girl's basketball game, and since I did well, he asked me to do it again. I play forward and halfback when I am in the game." G. Vijay, Seventh Grade.

Big Soccer Match

"We had a soccer match for the 9th, 10th and 11th grade boys. It was a fierce match but in the end the Purple 'Pingo' team won 2-1 with a penalty goal. I play defender and in this photo. I am trapping the ball. I love soccer." - Kumar 9th Grade

Young gardeners

These 2nd Graders are trying their hand at growing some local crops in their free time

Taking a break

Abilash (grade 10) taking a break from community service by playing with worms.

Monkeys on the monkey bars

So dressed up

When these kindergartners were asked "why are you so dressed up?" they replied "why not?"

Under the fig tree

Prashanth, Manju (6th), Shashi (7th), Gowtham and Poovarason (9th) relax by the fig tree outside their dorm after classes.

Moment for poetry

Akash (4th) writing a poem for English class.

Abhilasha's Pals on the PT Ground

"This picture was taken in the P.T. ground with all my friends." -Abhilasha, 3rd Grade, 14.2.08 [Abhilahsa (3rd), Bhuvaneshwari (3rd), Catsiya (4th), S.Pavithra (4th), Bhavana (3rd), Roselyn (3rd) and AngelMary (3rd)]

Karthik's Nature Scene

"This is a scenery of a tree which has given out new leaves. It looks very nice to me and I love nature." -Karthik, 8th Grade, 14.2.08

Chaitra's Fundamentals of Basketball

"Girls prove themselves as good as boys at games by practicing daily. This is a game of basketball against the few boys who wished to play." -Chaithra, 9th, 15/2/08 [Saritha (8th), Priscilla (8th), Maheshwari (8th), Nivya (8th), Prathiba (7th)]

Monkeys Thwarted at Shanti Bhavan

Two monkeys that Anushya and Karthik saw on campus one morning. Security was chasing them across the roofs so they wouldn't eat all of the fruits.

Selvan loves cycling!

Selvan (5th) and Anjali (volunteer) with a bike. Selvan loves cycling!

Lakshmi's wants everyone to meet her Herpetologist friends

"My friends and Katie are playing with a baby frog. It is taken in our fountain. I want the whole world to see this, which is in India in a school called Shanti Bhavan." -Lakshmi, 5th Grade, 15.2.08 [Fifth-graders: Nandini, Anushya, Viji]

Republic Day pageantry

Naveen (5th), Berkmans (4th), Vijay (5th), Meena (4th), Thanushree (4th) and Ruby (4th) salute the camera after a Republic Day skit. Can you spot Indira Gandhi?

10 Graders looking on

Tenth-graders Stella, Maha, Manimala and Vinay take in the Republic Day assembly.

Recess Fun

Vasanth (1st) strikes a pose on the sports ground.

The new extension dorm

Fourth-graders Lokesh and Arun outside the new extension to the school building.

Chariot Races!

Second and third grade boys improvising chariot races around the sports field while the older kids play soccer.

Ashwini's Pongol Costume

Ashwini (3rd) is dressed in traditional clothes for a performance about the Pongol festival.

4th Grade Scrabble

These are 4th grade students playing spelling games in the evening.

2nd Grade Self-Portrait

2nd graders, Sabrinath and Amarnath smiling for the camera. Sabrinath took this self-portrait on the sports field.

3rd Graders

3rd graders playing word games before dinner.

Pre-School Art Class

Here is a pre-school art class, taught by Mimi, a volunteer from Montreal. She is holding up balloons and asking, "Do you see a circle?" The children respond, "oooh yes, Miss Mimi."

Shanti Bhavan Celebrates Christmas (Part II)

While we were dancing and singing around the Christmas tree one of the children shouted, "Santa has come! Santa has come!"

The burst of crackers and sparklers lit the sky and there was jolly, fat Santa and he had brought an attendant too with bells jingling and balloons waving.

The choir welcomed him with songs. I was so happy, I shook with excitement when it my turn to get a present from Santa. Then I danced with Santa to hip-hop music. Everybody danced and had a lot of fun.

Harshita of Pre-School was scared of Santa and would not come up to him. I was exhausted and hungry and we all sat down to eat Nan and butter chicken which was super. I relished the dinner. I felt elated after the party. Tired after all the fun, I was asleep as soon as I laid down

- Beena (10th grade).

Also check out this video of a Shanti Bhavan Christmas song!