In-­‐House  Newsletter                                              Volume  XXXV  –Annual  Day  Special                                                                                        For  Private  Circulation  

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The wonderful winter noon of 18th Jan 2015, breathing the beautiful hidden moments, yet to unfold, the most awaited event at Kutchi Bhavan, in Powai was Buniyaad’s Annual Day Celebrations. Buniyaad Playgroup and Nursery, CA Technologies, HP Networking and Mr Anil Sharma, the Title Sponsors, bring to you TARANG-2015. This event brings out the physical and emotional facets hidden in children, eliminating fear, thereby demonstrating a ‘wholistic’ approach to learning.

Since I reached the venue early, I peeped into the green room. I was dumb founded to see an amount of preparatory work that was ongoing and the effort being invested in preparing the child participants for the programs. I then began to fathom what might come up in the next few hours. Parents were absolutely thrilled to be part of ‘TARANG-2015’ and were eagerly waiting to behold their small wonders, transform into superstars of the evening. Snatches of conversations revealed that parents were as happy as their kids, to be a part of Buniyaad Playgroup and Nursery. They shared that kids had become disciplined after joining Buniyaad and had started taking interest in academics. The kids try to speak in English at home, which reinforces parents’ resolve to continue providing good education. All at the venue were set to witness an exciting and strikingly vibrant event exhibiting Indian culture by the Buniyaad young stars. The event started ‘on the dot’ with the traditional lighting of lamp by distinguished guest Mr. Jiju Pillai, Director, Forstar Frozen Foods Pvt. Ltd. with his spouse Mrs. Binu Pillai, followed by a prayer by Nursery 7. The parents and audience joined

them as the charming tiny tots prayed to the God Almighty for guidance and success of the program. The harbinger of

all things auspicious, the Naadswaram preceded Ganesh stuti and Saraswati stuti, Bharatnattyam performed by young Tamilians from Nursery 2. Team Buniyaad has attempted to weave all the seven nurseries together with ’Unity in Diversity’. The task, to portray States, started

In-­‐House  Newsletter                                              Volume  XXXV  –Annual  Day  Special                                                                                        For  Private  Circulation  

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as part of Editorial Initiative in the month of Sept. 2014. Rich cultural diversity from seven States of India was showcased through elegant and skillful dances. Mrs. Kusum Parwani and Ms. Nooriyan Siddiqui took to the helm of the evening by way of announcing each strikingly vibrant presentation in their inimitable styles. A line of brilliant

performances of amusing dances and sensational music by the beautiful and gracious participants just set the stage on

fire. The young ones were swirling, dancing, twisting, and skipping gracefully in tune to the music played. The attractive costumes and optimal makeup added to their pleasing smiles as they won our hearts with their graceful steps and performances. It was clearly evident that tremendous efforts and time had been invested by the teachers, to unearth the hidden talents in these young children. Colorful chaniya cholis and kedias, donned by the

tiny-tots of Nursery 4, brought alive the folk dance form of Garba in Gujarat!! The young ones gave stiff competition to

uber chic Deepika Padukone and the debonair Ranvir Singh on the booming beats of ‘Nagada sang dhol baaje…’

Nursery 6 transported the audience to Kerala, ‘God’s own Country’. Tiny-tots presented a visual feast highlighting: Vallamkali, the 100 feet long boat rowed by 150 people, miniaturized by four kids, Kathakkali in the traditional dress and make-up, Mohiniattam by the girls in white kassavu saris, decked up with flowers around their wrists, swaying under the shade of the coconut trees; glimpses of various spices grown in Kerala; all brought to life with props-de-extraordinaire. A skit by students of the English Conversation Program emphasizing upon the ‘Need for Change’ in attitude of parents was the next presentation. They portrayed how parenting small children (good & bad) will yield good

bad grown ups. The Indian mentality of Boys being favored, and considered superior, needs to change. Equality, Respect and Esteem for daughters is what they asked for. Right upbringing of children brings love and harmony within the family and beyond. The audience accepted it as a true eye opener and cheered the performers. Hey ladies, you all just rock!!!! Milestones of Buniyaad were shared with the audience with appropriate photographs and videos. It reflected the high level of confidence exhibited in the work of the school. Treasurer and Trustee of Buniyaad, Mrs. Revati Balachandran highlighted the activities and initiatives as well as the Vision of Buniyaad in the years to come. Team Buniyaad was honored to have amidst them officials from Sponsors, Partners and our supporters who made TARANG-2015 a reality. Messages of appreciation

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were announced for Mr. Pratip Banerji of CA Technologies, Mr. Shantanu Ghosh, Country Head– Converge Infrastructure Solutions HP Networking, and Mr. Anil Sharma. Their personal messages for the event were also shared. Token of acknowledgement were presented to Mr. Dimple Desai, AGM Commercial, Reliance Digital, Mr. S.G. Nair, CMD, Forstar Frozen foods Pvt. Ltd, and Rathinams, Associate Sponsors for the event.

Presence of Mrs. Ranjana Singh, Head, HR, Xoriant; Captain K.V. Kamath from Anglo-Eastern Maritime Training Center and Mr. Sunil Suji, Head, HR, Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd. gave us an opportunity to convey our thanks by way of felicitating them. It was again a privilege to honor Mr. Krishnamurthy G.M., Hospitality & Support, Bennett & Coleman Co., Mr. Mohanty of Rytus Healthcare and Mr. Ranjan Narayan, CFO, Nickelodeon, a unit of Viacom18, our Event Supporters. Buniyaad is thankful to Hiranandani Group for the timely permissions to utilize the Heritage Gardens for Picnic and Fancy Dress & Poetry Competitions, an essential part of kids’ curriculum. Hiranandani Group has also elected to have Buniyaad as their Charity Partners in the upcoming Thane Half Marathon. To express our thanks, Mr. Manish Gupta, V.P., Hiranandani Group was felicitated. With paucity of finances for our less privileged citizens, educating children in English medium has become a challenge. To provide a ray of hope, Buniyaad, through the Asha Kiran Scheme has been making a huge difference in the life of some of our ex-students & their families. Parents of two kids volunteered to share their

sentiments and experiences. In their words; ”Today I am standing in front of you and talking, on Republic Day, my daughter is going to talk in English, in front of

the whole school... and she is going to sing as well; it is only because of the encouragement from AshaKiran that we are able to see this happen” and ”it is because of this help from Buniyaad that today my son is studying in a good school. I will always be grateful to them.” TARANG-2015 was also the occasion to give away prizes for the various inter and intra class competitions organized in Buniyaad. Mrs. Sarika Matode, Nursery 2 was the proud recipient of the winner of Editorial Initiative; Mrs. Ranjana Singh from Xoriant awarded the prizes to Mrs. Vidya Ahire of Nursery 5 as the winner and Mrs. Sujata Tambat of Nurs 3 as the runner-up of First Art and Craft Competition. Mr Jiju Pillai, Director, Forstar Frozen foods Pvt. Ltd. graciously gave away the prizes to: Mrs. Bharti Ahire of Nursery 1 and Mrs. Sujata Tambat of Nursery 3 as joint winners of Second Art and Craft Competition, and Mrs. Sarika Matode, Nursery 2 as the runner-up. The most awaited honor, year after year is undoubtedly the “BEST TEACHER AWARD”. This year the Planners Investments Award for Best Teacher was awarded to Mrs. Bharti Ahire of Nursery 1 at Vikhroli, Park Site. This is the second consecutive win for her, and Team Buniyaad is equally proud of her achievement. Capt K.V. Kamath from Anglo-Eastern Maritime Training Center presented the award to her amidst enthusiastic applause. Young volunteers Atharv, Ira & Arnav did a wonderful job by keeping the crowd busy and energized by their intelligent quiz and puzzles...it's worth admiring to see school children spending time with the organization. After the highlights, it was again time for song and dance!!

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Mizos from Nursery 3, tap-tapped their way into audience’s hearts with Bamboo dance, straight from Mizoram, one of the Seven Sister States. The Mizo kids’ danced on the song- ‘maine kaha phoolon se hanson, toh who khilkhila ke hans pade’ some of them holding the flower Anthurium, which is the State flower. After this sweet and graceful performance, ‘dil garden-garden ho gaya’. Nursery 5 galvanized the audience into standing up and clapping and cheering to the beats of ‘Rang de Basanti’. The song and the dance depicted the vibrant and patriotic streak of Punjab.

Nursery 1 brought the house down with their scintillating dance on the wildly popular song ‘hipoli sajuk tupatali’, which presented

the unique celebratory spirit of kolis, fisher folk of Maharashtra. Last but not least, was the dance performance by Buniyaad teachers and students on ‘Mile sur mera tumhara, to sur bane hamara’; the dance based on the theme of TARANG-2015, which brought alive ‘Unity in Diversity.’ We thank Art Space for letting us use their office premises for the English conversation classes through the year. The other major supporters are Mr. Srinath Beldona, Bangalore, Mr. Krishnan R. Kaushik, based in USA, Mr. Ramana Suri, Mr M.N.Gopinath, CM Jewellers & Hari-Hara-Putra Bhajan Samaj, Byke Hospitality & Vakrangee Software. Silence is golden and some of our partners wish to remain Silently strong. Hence, we express our sincere gratitude for their huge, silent and continuous support. Hearty thanks to our corporate Volunteers from Xoriant and Anglo-Eastern!! They made this event fantabulous with their exuberance and assistance. ‘Friends of Buniyaad’ made the evening superfun with their

management and movement for the kids, crowd, cheer et al. A subsidiary of Bennett & Coleman provided colorful school bags for the children. Nickelodeon also sponsored take-away gifts for the children. All the students were seen

gleefully carrying the school bags and the gifts home that evening. As the name ‘TARANG’ suggests, the amazing and cheerful participants did lift our spirits very high at the end of it all; the viewers were energized by the stupendous performances. Success of this event is the culmination of

efforts from children, teachers, administrators, and volunteers, supporting staff reiterating the principles on which the school is founded. For more pictures, please visit http://www.buniyaad.org.in/activities_annualday.html

Guest Editors: Rajeshree Kumar; Kishore Kumar Photos: Courtesy, Mayur Arts: Mr. D.V. Patkar Editorial Team: Jaya S, Hema R, Rekha J Contact us at: buniyaad.mum@hotmail.com Visit us at: http//www.buniyaad.org.in