The 66th birthday of Mata Amritanandamayi Devi or Amma as she is fondly called by everyone was celebrated in a special way by students of Amrita Vidyalayam.
Chinmayi House students presented Amma’s thoughts during the entire week. In the morning, students presented a short speech taking us through Amma’s life. House Captain Kiran Nair read out a letter addressed to Amma, where he thanked Her for guiding the students on the path of Seva and helping them to understand the glory of Sanatana Dharma. A melodious bhajan, “Maa teri charano mein jo aate he sheesh jhukane” was sung by Gayathri Gopakumar and Rashi Kamble.
This year, Principal Brni. Rekha expressed her desire to give a unique birthday gift to Amma. She requested class teachers who are the torch bearers to assess their own classes and write a pledge and a promise aimed at a positive transformation that they want to bring about in their classes. The promise means that the gift we are offering Amma is a gift by which we can effect a change for the better in our own lives. Each teacher displayed the promise on their class notice boards which will serve as a reminder to every student, and will be read out every day in each class until Amma’s next birthday.
After the pledge was taken in the classrooms, 2 short films – Amma’s Life story, Rive of Love and a documentary on Amma, Science of Compassion – were shown to all the students in their classrooms. Students viewed Amma’s spiritual journey from a young age, and the stories about Amma that they had read during Value Education periods came alive through the films. This helped them connect with Amma very deeply.
Following the path of Seva shown by Amma, students of 7A visited the 30 adopted families in the nearby slum area along with their class teacher Ms. Lata Yemul and Sevamritram in-charge teachers, Ms. Sarika Mishra and Ms. Indira Warrier. Around 100 kg of rice was donated and clothes brought by students were distributed to the families. Our students helped the teachers to measure the rice and fill it in buckets, and carried the buckets themselves.
Students offered beautiful birthday cards that they had made themselves and Pushpanjali at the Holy Lotus Feet of Amma to express their love towards the guiding light who shines bright on all of us.
