My Favorite Ramayana Character – who and why (October 2019)
This month, Diwali happens to be on the same day as our monthly Hawan. Therefore, rather than continuing with the current theme, Ishwar Stuti Prarthana Upasana Mantras, this month, we will focus on the Ramayana characters.
Almost everyone has read/watched Ramayana story or show. If your kids haven’t, let’s take this as an excellent opportunity to teach them – and learn a bit ourselves in the process. 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 full of life lessons, too. 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 insight into what we should and shouldn’t 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.
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.
I am looking forward to hear the interesting perspectives presented by our kids.
Best regards,
Harsh Mendiratta