My Ideals from Scriptures (October 2022)
There are a plenty who talk about people.
There are some who talk about deeds.
And, then, there are a rather few who talk about life lessons.
What category of the people you fall into? This is the biggest question to ponder over as part of this month’s assignment. With the festivities all around us, we will take the month of October as a great opportunity to draw lessons as we celebrate our beautiful festivals.
As you know, the festival season is not only here but also in full swing. Be it observation of customs, colorful celebrations, traditional dresses, family reunions or get-togethers, there is a nonstop excitement in the air. We must enjoy it to the fullest. Amid all this, we must not forget a very important, if not the essential, reason behind the observation of the festivals. It is the reflection and introspection. For this month’s assignment, kids will pick a character from the Ramayana and reflecting on the life of that character will share some unique perspectives and learnings.
The topic for this month’s assignment is “My reflection on […]”, where … is one of the characters from Ramayana.
While there is so much to learn from the life of Lord Ram, the whole Ramayana is also full of great life lessons. There are a large number of characters with unique personalities: they have their strengths and weaknesses. Just by studying the life of a single character, we can gain amazing insights into what we should and should not do in life.
As the monthly assignment, each kid will pick one character from the Ramayana and reflect on that character’s role in the Ramayana, their strengths, and their weaknesses. The kids will also talk about what piqued their interest in that character. If they face a similar situation in their life [as that of their Ramayana character], what they would do. To make it more interesting, the kids may also share a few fascinating lesser-known facts about their characters.
BTW, kids do not need to pick their role models per se. With a introspecting mind, one can learn as much, if not more, from a negative personality as from a positive character. Here are a few names (not an exhaustive list though) of the characters to get the kids started: Lord Ram, Sita, Lakshman, Urmila, Bharat, Shatrughan, King Dashrath, Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, Sumitra, Manthra, Vishwamitra, Hanuman, Sugriva, Bali, Angad, Vibhishan, King Janak, Marichh, Jatayu, Ravan, Indrajeet, Kumbhkaran, and Sharupnakha.
If kids need help, please share the stories of the characters the kids are interested in but not the lessons. Let the kids come up with their own interpretation based upon what they have been learning in the month Hawans.
Here is the structure of the presentation:
- Introduce the character they picked [~15 sec]
- Describe what characteristics of that personality piqued their interest [~45 sec]
- Share the lessons kids draw from that character’s role/life [~1 min]
- Explain how kids will apply the learning to their life [~1 min]
Please keep your article to a max of a 3-min presentation when presenting alone; and, a total of 5 min combined for all the siblings.
I am looking forward to hear the interesting perspectives presented by our kids.
Regards,
Harsh Mendiratta🙏🏼