Hello Everyone!

Variety is the spice of life. Life without feasts and celebrations is charm less and lifeless. So is true in case of school life. Without functions and celebrations school life becomes monotonous and uninteresting. Therefore, almost all the schools have certain annual functions such as, Annual Sports Day, Parents’ Day, Teacher’s Day, School Anniversary Day, and so much more. These celebrations add color and charm to school life.

Recently my school declared that this year we are all going to celebrate the occasion of Easter. On going back home I asked Dadda what is the significance and meaning of this festival. Dadda told me that Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday is an important and very old Christian festival. This festive event is celebrated mainly by Christians in the honor of Resurrection of Jesus Christ from dead. It is believed that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead took place three days after his crucifixion. That’s why people celebrate Easter by visiting the church and praying to God.

Easter Sunday is that this day signifies the win of Good over Bad. Lord Jesus is the “son of God” and the resurrection of Jesus signifies that follower of virtuous or righteous path will always be loved and protected by God. Dadda told me that praying to God every day and being thankful to Him for whatever we have in our lives will help us become better human beings.

Our teacher in school told us that Easter marks the end of the forty days of Lent, a period during which the Christians observe fast and penitence in preparation for the Easter which begins on Ash Monday and ends on Easter Sunday. She gave us an entire schedule which shall be followed in school for the entire Easter week. Our morning prayers shall be extended to 15 more minutes from the usual time. This shall be followed by recitations and hymns by our school chorus group. I am very excited about the whole thing as I shall get to learn more about the religious and cultural norms of Christianity.

So here I begin my preparations for Easter! I told Mumma to buy me psalms and a book on prayers to be taken to school. I thought I shall share a few lines from the book in our Morning Prayer session. This way I too can participate in the event. I have also given my name in the Chorus. For this we would be required to stay back in school for an extra hour to practice the hymns post our classes. I am thrilled to experience the entire event.

I also came to know that before Easter Sunday, the preceding week is known as Holy Week that celebrates Holy Thursday as well as the Good Friday. We have a holiday for Good Friday. Dadda and Mumma have promised me to take me to the church to see the ceremonies that are celebrated. This is going to be an eventful week for me and I am so glad that God has given me this opportunity to experience and be a part of it.

Happy Easter!

Hello everyone! This week I noticed something very odd, when I went out with mumma for shopping I saw all the shops were decorated with hearts and ribbons. The gift shops were selling heart shaped balloons, teddies and many more things. I have seen the shops before but they didn’t look like this; so I asked mumma why all the shops were decorated like that all of a sudden? Mumma said it’s because Valentine’s Day is approaching.

Valentine’s Day! What is it? Why do we celebrate it? I started asking mumma all kinds of questions about Valentine’s Day. I also saw a baby with an arrow in hand. So I asked who he was; mumma said he was cupid! She said she’ll answer all my questions once we get back home.

We came back home after an hour or so and I was very excited about knowing what was it all about. When I asked mumma again, she said we celebrate Valentine’s Day to show our love for people close to us. It is about expressing our love by sharing gifts like heart shaped balloons, teddies and other mementos. When I asked her about the baby with an arrow in his hand, mumma said he is called Cupid and there is a small story linked with him.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Psyche, she was so beautiful that everyone praised her whenever they saw her. There was another woman named Venus, who was very jealous of Pysche’s beauty. So she called upon Cupid, who was able to make people fall in love by shooting arrows. Venus asked him to shoot her with his arrow, so that she falls in love with the ugliest man in the world. Cupid went to do what Venus told him, but when he saw Psyche he was mesmerised with her beauty and accidentally shot himself with the arrow and fell in love with Psyche. This is reason why we associate Cupid with Valentine’s Day since he loved Psyche and lived happily with her ever after.

The story was so nice. I told mumma that even I want to celebrate Valentine’s Day and she agreed. We decided to make a nice Valentine’s Day card for dadda and buy a surprise gift for him also. We will also buy lots of balloons and decorate our home with them. Mumma told me she will get me sketch pens, glitters and coloured papers, so that I can make a beautiful card for dadda. She said that most people buy cards, but people feel special if we make something for them. I love dadda very much and I will make a card for him all by myself.

When I go to my nursery school, I will ask my friends how they will celebrate their Valentine’s Day. I will also tell them that I am planning a surprise for dadda and after that he will love me even more. Mumma said we can celebrate with everyone we love, so I will make a card for my best friend also. Happy Valentine’s Day to you too!