The Sanskrit Festival ‘Sanskritotsava’ was organised for the first time by ‘Sanskriti’ the Sanskrit Club in association with Sanskrit Department Of DPS R K Puram on 22nd December 2015.
Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram hosted inter school competitions in which 17 schools across Delhi-NCR participated.
The Chief Guest for the event was Dr. Pankaj Kr. Mishra, Associate Professor in St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University and the guest of honour was Dr Anju Seth , Associate Professor of Satyawati College, Delhi Unversity. The panel of judges included Dr. Ajay Jha, Assistant Professor of Satyawati College, Delhi University; Dr. Suchitra Bharti, Assistant Professor in Gargi College, Delhi University, Dr. Pankaj Kr.Mishra and Dr.Anju Seth. Also present was Dr.Asha Lata Pandey, former Head of Sanskrit Department; Vice Prinicipals, Ms. Vanita Sehgal and Dr.Renu Nayar; Headmistress Ms.Anita Singh and the Head of Sanskrit department, Mrs. Amla Thukral and her team of teachers.
The event commenced with the lighting of the lamp and felicitation of the Chief Guest and judges by the Principal, Dr. D.R.Saini. The Cultural Programme consisted of a mesmerising recitation of Sanskrit Shlokas by Class VI students followed by ‘Pushpanjali’ – an invocation dance. The audience was graced by a scintillating Sanskrit ‘Kavyaali’ (Qawwali) performance and a mellifluous Sanskrit Song. Thereafter the students put up a thought provoking street play on the ‘Importance of Sanskrit’ and a Power Point Presentation prepared by Rajat Sindu Class XI student on the “Usage of Sanskrit in Modern Days” was shown to the audience. The Chief Guest addressed the gathering highlighting the rich culture and history of the language. He connected with the gathering with his melodious songs in Sanskrit. Dr.Anju Seth, the guest of honour also addressed the audience and appreciated the efforts of students.
There were two competitive events, Debate and Poster Making. The topic of the debate was “Is the revolution in the field of communication helping in the upliftment of mankind or is it causing more damage and downfall?” The Poster Making competition had two topics “Women Empowerment” and “Relation between cleanliness and health.”
The Debate(in favour of the topic) was won by DPS R.K. Puram , while DPS Dwarka came second and DPS Indirapuram third. Speaking against the topic, DPS Indirapuram bagged first position ,followed by DPS Bulandshahr. and DPS.Noida in the second and third places respectively. The trophy for the best team in Debate went to DPS Indirapuram.
DPS R.K. Puram won the first prize in the Poster Making Competition(Topic-Cleanliness) followed by DPS Vasant Kunj and DPS Gurgaon in the second and third places respectively. In the topic ‘Women Empowerment’, DPS Gurgaon bagged the first position while DPS Noida and DPS Faridabad stood second and third respectively.DPS Gurgaon bagged the best team trophy for Poster Making.
The vote of thanks was given by the Head of Sanskrit department, Mrs. Amla Thukral.
The ‘Sanskritotsava’ was successful in spiking the curiosity for Sanskrit among the students as they participated in all the dynamic events. Such initiatives will go a long way in highlighting the importance of the subject.