School’s out for the year and it has ended with a bang for GG!
We went to GG’s school on Friday for the Meet the Parents session and learned that she came second in class again this year. Unfortunately, she was not given the lateral transfer we were looking for. We spoke to her Teachers who only had lovely things to say about her.
I wanted the transfer because the subjects offered in her stream were not the ones she wanted. She is interested in Humanities, but there were not many options in her stream. When I asked her Teachers if she could cope with a more intense stream, I was assured by almost every one of them that she had a very positive attitude to studying and could easily cope with the increased pace.
As a last resort I decided to see if I could speak to her principal to see if we could appeal for the transfer. Initially her principal was quite resistant to the idea as she had not achieved the minimum overall grade the school sets (this is higher than the grade set my the ministry of education, which was below the grade that GG had gotten). Apparently her name did come up when they discussed promotions, but for some reason she was not offered it. When I persisted, the principal cited her lower science marks as a reason for not transferring her. At that point I told him that she is not interested in science at all and is a humanities student at heart. The subjects she wanted to do (Pure humanities) was only offered at the higher level. When he heard that she wanted the transfer to do humanities, he immediately relented and called her year head and told him to prepare the letter to conditionally transfer her to the better stream! We will get the letter next week and then it’ll be official! Till then it’s all fingers and toes crossed. GG is ecstatic and is over the moon. She’s all fired up to do her favourite subjects and wants to prove to the school that they took a good decision in letting her transfer.
BB, what to say! His year end results have been very average and I am now worried that he would not get the subject combination of his choice. He does seem resigned to it, but I am still hopeful. The results come out next week and we can also appeal for a better result. Please pray for us.
This is as our eventful week this week. Happy Sunday everyone!
Today is Deepavali (as it’s called in South India) or Diwali (as it’s called in the north). Since in Mumbai, people generally refer to it as Diwali, that’s what we call it and will continue to call it irrespective of whether I am referring to it being celebrated in the north or south.
In the southern part of India, Diwali is celebrated as the day Lord Krishna killed the demon Narakasura and is called Naraka Chaturdasi. If the day falls on the new moon day or Amavasya, then you have to wake up very early and take a bath before daylight breaks. A special oil is made the previous night with herbs and spices and this is supposed to ward off the effects of winter. This oil is applied by the oldest woman in the family who is available and is done in front of the family altar. Once you bathe and get ready, you pray to the Lord and then to the elders in the family. You then eat the medicinal preparation made which prepares your stomach for the onslaught of food. Then it’s time to feast the yummy goodies you’ve slaved away at. Children and adults also light firecrackers in the early morning dawn to frighten the demons. Here in Singapore, firecrackers, especially the loud ones which make noise are banned, so we used to buy sparklers for the children when they were younger. Now that they are older, we stop at the goodie eating and visiting the temple.
In North India, the day after Naraka Chaturdasi is usually celebrated as Diwali and is the day when Lord Rama reached Ayodhya after fulfiling the promise he made to his stepmother Keykeyi about going on a 14-year exile and in the process, killing the demon king Ravana in what is now present-day Sri Lanka which is celebrated as the festival of Dushhera. On that day, people decorate their homes with diyas and candles just like how the kingdom of Ayodhya had been decorated to welcome their beloved Lord Rama. People perform Laxmi Puja for wealth and also worship Goddess Saraswati for wisdom. Some Indian communities also celebrate their new year during this period and so there’s an additional celebration aspect during the three-four day long festivities.
Some of the other legends from Indian mythology which are associated with this festival include:
Fireflies follows the creation of modern day Bangladesh – from Indian province, to Partition, to the emergence of statehood – as told through the impassioned voice of Deepali Sarkar and others around her who live through the turbulence. Hyder perceptively and majestically follows the trajectory of Sarkar’s life — from her secluded upbringing in Dhaka to becoming a socialist rebel and to her ultimate transformation as a diasporic Bengali cosmopolitan — in the way that many of yesterday’s revolutionaries are slowly but surely ensnared within a net of class and luxury dangled in front of them.
