The unforgettable Feast (Grades 9 and 10) When a girl tries to convince a priest to prepare more prasadam during a festival, he tells her the story of how Lord Kubera, the God of Wealth, learns from Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha about the secret of satisfying hunger – in an unforgettable feast!

Independence Day has great importance in every citizen’s life. This day reminds us every year that freedom is sacred, and citizens must do everything to ensure that it shall not be hampered. So, it’s important to celebrate Indian Independence every year as a festival. Pandemic cannot stop us from doing our bit as an Indian, respecting Indian Independence and the struggle behind it. Principal along with a few teachers and coordinators hoisted the flag following the covid protocols. It was a very emotional moment for those present. The event was live on Facebook for Hari Shree teachers and students to salute the flag.

The Tamil debate conducted on Tamil Day was a very enlightening conversation between the students of 11 and 12 from all four houses. The topic was well received and researched upon since it had relevance to the current situation. All the participants spoke enthusiastically, and understood the context of the debate very well. The judge gave all the participants invaluable feedback that will definitely be useful in the future. The way the debate was conducted, the dance, music and speeches by the 8th graders and how even the smallest technical glitches were taken are of was simply amazing. I really enjoyed participating in this online Tamil debate and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teachers and students who put in the effort to make it happen.

- Dheekshanya A, grade XII

Temples of Tamil Nadu

The webinar by Mr. Bharath Chandrasekaram gave an insight into the brilliant architectural and sculptural skills of the artisans of our land. It was almost a virtual tour of the famous temples of Tamil Nadu tracing the history and evolution during the period of Pallava and Chola kings. He explained the difference between the architectural style of the Pallavas and Cholas and how the Cholas reformed and brought in magnificence to the structure. He very vividly highlighted the distinct and unique features of the Brihadeeswara temple, kailasanathar temple, the early rock cut and monolith temples built during the reign of different dynasties. The lucid style of explanation along with pictures and focus on minute details, left the audience awestruck and paved the way for a deeper understanding to appreciate the uniqueness of our culture.

Talkathon

The Inter-house Talkathon event took place online. We enjoyed preparing our speeches, putting our writing abilities to good use. Delivering them on a virtual platform was a totally new experience too! I was really happy when I found out that I came third. Even though it was an inter house competition, everyone encouraged their friends and enthusiastically listened to all the speeches. In the final round it was extremely engaging to learn about the day to day pandemic heroes our friends spoke about. Everyone had a different perspective about their hero. I am looking forward to many more events.

- Zakya K Palicha, grade VI

Celebrating Freedom – Independence Week

True to the spirit of ‘Unity in Diversity’, a multilingual program was presented by the students of class 8 & 10. There were speeches, dance and music. It was a splendid, virtual presentation. An Inter-house Quiz was conducted on Independence day for Grade 7 and Grade 8 . The topic was Madras (1700-1950). Various rounds included Temples, Locations, Personalities, Companies & Brands, Art & Cinema. The quizmasters were our senior students from Grade 11 – Tejas Nageshwaran and Aneesh Sriram.

The ISC History department of Hari Shree came together to organize India’s 73^rd Independence Day virtually. The program was filled with interesting activities to celebrate India. The event began with few thought provoking questions and discussion on the importance of the day. This was followed by Dumb Charades and Pictionary on the theme of Indian independence. Harakesh. M, a History student from Grade XII, made and presented a documentary called ‘Eve of Independence’. The documentary took us back to August 14th, 1947 and showed us a glimpse of the vibes and feelings of the people on the day before independence. Patriotism knows no language. To honour and respect the differently abled of our nation, the ‘Silent National Anthem’ was played.

- P Thanuja Mahalakshmi, grade XII

In honour of Madras – The Digital Way!

During this dull chapter of our lives, our school conducted a poster making competition to get our creative juices flowing. The event was an inter house competition and was individual in nature. We were asked to join a call on google meet, where we received our topic which was ‘Madras to Chennai’. It was quite hard at first to think of a way to present this transformation but eventually we managed to do it and turned in our posters. The event definitely helped give us more insight into our city’s history and gave us a chance to express our house spirit. For classes IX & X Shriya from Prithvi house came first, Anika of Akash house came second and Divya from Agni house came third and for classes XI & XII Logeswaran of Vayu house bagged the first place, Nayantara from Agni house came second and Chavi from Prithvi house secured the third place.

- Shriya Rama Rajiv, grade IX

Ode to Chennai – The Poetic Way

The rejuvenating hustle-bustle of the busy streets, the mouthwatering delicacies, the friendly people, the rich traditions and practices, the glamorous monuments – soak in the surroundings! What better way to celebrate the place you call home than an ode. An inter-house poetry writing competition, Hues of Chennai, was held for classes 9-12. For classes IX & X Ananya from Agni house came first, Divya of Agni house came second and Samhita from Akash house came third and for classes XI & XII Kavya of Vayu house bagged the first place, Tejas from Akash house came second and Shrimathura from Agni house secured the third place.

This year, the organizing committee made history when CHSVMUN 2020 was conducted online for the first time. Considering previous years this year’s conference was a perplexity in the beginning but we achieved a milestone by conducting it online, with Five Committees and 12 Chairs. Over the span of two days, four committees had four successful resolutions after four sessions of debate and discussions on the quality of worldly affairs. The IPC conducted a press conference, questioning delegates on their countries’ stance and decisions and their pertinence to the agenda posed. At the end of the conference the delegates were conferred with more than 40 awards spanning five committees.

- S Raghav, grade XII