Akshar turned the 4th of July into both a celebration of prize day and a commemoration of Akshar’s 25th birthday.
Noni Khullar, Principal of Akshar - “With a profound sense of gratitude and pride we commemorate and celebrate Akshars' remarkable 25-year journey. This occasion is not merely an opportunity for festivity; it is a moment for us to reflect upon our accomplishments, acknowledge our roots, and express appreciation for the visionaries who paved the way for our success. ”
Celebrating prize day both junior and senior, Akshar’s theme for this year was Indigo. Though many may not know, there was a huge stigma about growing Indigo right from when the British occupied India. Due to Indigo being a cash crop that benefited the British, the farmers grew fewer and fewer food crops and eventually, the famine occurred. After leaving India, there was a rumor going about in India that said that planting Indigo would make the lands infertile - the reality is that Indigo is a leguminous plant which means it fixes the soil's nitrogen levels making it more fertile.
Akshar has had several activities pertaining to Indigo this year which students from various classes participated in. Mr. Bappaditya Biswas, the co-owner of Byloom, and Mr. Sanjay Pramik, a farmer, have visited our school in the past to help raise the children’s awareness regarding Indigo. Mr. Biswas who has worked closely with the farmers alongside Mr. Pramik has started to grow indigo on their lands and has dyed clothes with it. The students have worked around Indigo all year round and have come to learn about the plant and the dyeing process.
Akshar’s Junior Prize Day started off with the opening speech as well as our choir singing Swagatam Shubha Swagatam and Mangalam. On the tabla and the keyboard, we had two alumni who offered their skills to tie the performance together. Each singer wore traces of blue in their outfit and sang beautifully. The Junior students of Akshar all received prizes for their academic achievements and other various accomplishments. Student Nishtha Thakkar in the ICSE section got an award for her courage, determination, and unwavering spirit. Ahmed Monem and Yatharth Seth in the secondary section for working with single-minded determination and their exemplary behavior co - won the Rajpal Khullar Memorial Trust award.
The junior skit, ‘Our Nature Club’ was set in the classroom with the teacher and students singing songs, reciting poems and even rapping lyrics on nature. The play was short and sweet and really helped the viewer understand the importance of nature and how precious it truly is.
The senior play was about the Indigo Revolution that took place in 1859 in Bengal. It was placed in a small village in Nodia where the idea of the planting of indigo was suggested. It follows the lives of Sanjoy, an individual of the younger generation of farmers who, with the help of ‘Biswas Da’ convinces the people of the village to grow Indigo. It turns out to be a success for the village and the play concludes with a fashion show where the students wore clothes designed by Mr. Biswas and walked the ramp. It tackled heavy topics like overcoming the stigma around growing indigo, the mistreatment the farmers underwent under the British, and the revolt.
The choir sang ‘Song Sung Blue’ as the music for the fashion show and it was a success. Both plays revolved around nature in their own way - with the senior play being more heavily focused on the theme for the year.
The evening ended with the school song and all the guests receiving their own little bundle of Indigo seeds to plant at home.
