Songs from the Desert

A lecture demonstration by Bhutte Khan Manganiar and group under the auspices of the North Kerala chapter of Spic Macay was held on 02 July at the school auditorium. Kalbeliya and Bhawai dancers performed to accompaniment by Manganiar musicians. The musicians are from the Langas and Manganiars who are groups of hereditary musicians. Bhutte Khan conducts workshops and lectures across the country to propagate the folk tunes and beats of Rajasthan. Bhutte Khan Manganiar and group are in Kerala till the 5th of July. 

 

Interview: Bhutte Khan Manganiar,  Rajasthani folk musician.  Interviewed by our fluent Hindi speaking staff, Ms Anita Kumari  and Ms Remya. Translation of excerpts as follows:

Where are you from?

We are from Western Rajasthan, from Jaisalmer near Barmer which borders Pakistan.

 You say your community have been singing and performing for seven generations. When do you start training?

 In the Manganiyar community we are not given any sort of training. I myself did not get any. Our children start singing automatically. They even cry in a sort of melodious way, we like to think.

 Are your children given regular school education?
 Yes, that goes on along with their musical development.

 Have your troupe performed abroad?
 Yes, we have visited many foreign countries.

 And what do they think of our Indian folk music.
They have great deal of esteem and regard for our folk music.

 And what do you do when are back in you village?
We carry on with our performances. We are often called to perform at wedding and other traditional events. This this keeps us busy.

We find the attire of your dancers very colourful and striking even though it had dominant black tones to it.
That is right. Our costumes are quite captivating on stage.

 Are these dancers related to you?
No, they are not. These dancers are from another community who are traditional dancers.

Are the younger members of your community keen on following in your footsteps?
Our younger generation is very much interested in carrying on our tradition. At the same time they like to try out new generation or Bollywood songs. A member of our community Moti Khan was on a national television channel show performing our traditional songs.

 Now a word about Kerala. Have you been to Kerala before?
Yes, we have been here three times already.

And how do you find the place? How does this compare with the climate in Rajasthan?
We find it extremely beautiful and green.  Back home it is very hot except it rains. But in Jaisalmer it is hot around the year.

How do you find Kerala food?
We like it though it is considerably less spicy than our Rajasthani food. Besides our roti is made from maize not wheat. All in all  Kerala, has been an amazing experience for us.

No rain, no rainbow- Anunanda V. S. Class IX A

Dear friends,

On a rainy day I was sitting in my courtyard. The raindrops fell on the cement ground with a certain sound. When I listened to it carefully, it sounded as if they were telling me something and I listened carefully. They seemed to say,

“Dear Friend,

I was sent away by little Johny at first. But I didn’t know that mankind would send me completely away from their environment. I have been terribly disturbed for the past few years. Mankind has destroyed my balance and my atmosphere. I used to feel very proud of myself as my arrival was always a pleasure to farmers and children. But now they themselves delay my arrival by cutting down trees and committing cruel activities that lead to global warming. I was deeply hurt when they contaminated me with harmful gases and acids. The water bodies that I originate from are terribly polluted due to so-called development.

All these led to many disturbances and imbalances in my life cycle. When I did not rain down people cursed me and called the situation ‘drought’. When I did not stop pouring, they hated me more for creating a flood. But are these self-created hazards?

Many students are taught how to save me and their environment. But they view these lessons only as a part of their burden of studies.

Man invents many things to make his life easy, but he does not try to save my life, without which he would not survive.

If this continues, a day will come when neither I nor you can control me.”

Saying this the last drop fell to the ground.

Yoga Day Celebration

Yoga Day observed

Silver Hills Public School observed the second Yoga Day on June 21, 2016. The event took place in the school auditorium under the guidance of Anil Kumar, well-known yoga trainer and Ms. Kavitha Satheesh, a yoga trainer and dance maestro. Yoga is a regular programme of the school CCE.

Silverites in yoga poses

Say ‘Yes’ to Blood Donation and ‘No’ to Bloodbath

The World Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year on 14 June. 

Blood is our lifeline. Without sufficient blood, no animal or human being can survive. It is the common biotic link of humanity. When we say blood is thicker than water, the value of blood relationship is underscored.

It is not just family members who share blood relationship with each other.  When blood is donated, a new relationship is born between the donor and recipient. There are many cases where the donor does not know who the recipient is going to be.  But, millions of lives are saved by the humane gesture of blood donation.  It is an invaluable service to our fellow beings. That is why every year on 14 June, World Blood Donor Day is celebrated. 

Blood is the priceless common currency of hospitals. There is a blood bank in all major hospitals.  Blood bank stores different groups of blood to meet emergency situations. In India, every year 12 million units of blood are required, out of which only 9 million units come off the blood bank’s shelves through voluntarily donated blood. 

Many people lose lives in the face of accidents and emergencies or complicated surgeries due to the shortage or unavailability of blood in the bank.  Only if people donate blood, the bank will have sufficient stock.

Anyone between the age group of 18 to 65, weighing above 45 kgs, and having a haemoglobin level of 12.5 or above can easily donate blood. The blood donated is less than half of the extra blood which your body does not need. All healthy adults can and should donate blood every three months.

The theme of this year’s World Blood Donor Day is ‘Blood connects us all’.  It thankfully celebrates blood donors and highlights the value of sharing. The day also creates awareness about the need of risk-free blood and safe transfusion.

Many of Silver Hills parents and teachers donate blood regularly. Several of them are also members of blood donors’ forum.  If not, let us convince them about the value of the great gesture.

Let me conclude by saying ‘yes’ to blood donation and ‘no’ to bloodbath.

M. Gopinath

Silver Hills Stages Drama on Environment

As part of World Environment Day celebration, Silver Hills Public School staged a drama titled ‘Thalam’ to sensitize the students about the urgency to salvage the fragile earth from further decay and improving the quality of environment. 

 ‘Thalam’ highlights the greed of man which denies a peaceful life for all living things and in the bargain endangers his own existence.  A cat and a little girl happens to retrieve a veena long since dumped in the attic.   The musical instrument shares its life history with them.  In the good old past, the veena was a huge tree on the bank of a river.  The cat and the girl who are in search of the river breaks into tears unable to trace it.  Before their poignant tears, the river emerges in a dream-come-true moment.  In that rare moment, myriad living beings on earth merges with the rhythm of nature.  The rhythm

The drama which is directed by Bichoos Chilanga is based on the script of Sunil Nagambara.  All the actors were students of the school who also presented environmental songs and speech.

Silver Hills Public School welcomes you!

“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change”.

Carl Rogers

Silver Hills Public School at Paroppady, Kozhikode, is a co-educational English medium higher secondary school affiliated to CBSE New Delhi. The minority institution run by St. Thomas Province, Kozhikode is one of the several leading educational institutions envisioned and administered by fathers of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI). The Silver Hills Public School came into existence in the academic year 2001-02. The school got affiliated to the CBSE in the year 2004 and in 2006 it was upgraded to Senior Secondary level. The first batch of secondary level students passed out in the year 2006 confirming the growth of the school into an institution with infinite potential for excellence. Two years later, the first batch of Senior Secondary students passed out followed by several valuable milestones. In the year 2011-12, the decennial year monument was inaugurated by Sri. Ommen Chandy, Hon. Chief Minister of Kerala. Today the institution has clearly emerged as the benchmark in school education in Kerala.

OUR PATRON

Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805 - 1871), the founder of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) the first indigenous religious congregation in India is our lodestar. He was a social reformer, poet, dramatist and educationalist. He produced fundamental changes in the educational scenario of Kerala by starting the first free Sanskrit school open to all sections of the society, in the year 1864. He initiated and vigorously pursued the policy of starting a school attached to every church. He died at the age of 65 on 3rd January 1871.  Hence 3rd January is celebrated as our Founder’s Day.

Thanks to his efforts, today the CMI congregation has an extensive network of 520 educational institutions ranging from play schools to professional colleges in several parts of India and abroad. Our founder’s canonization in 2014 has been a major fillip for us to rededicate ourselves to the values and vision that he stood for.

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