Sonia Dogra, Keekli Reporter, 26-27th August, 2017, Shimla
Annual Day is the time of the year when students gear up to showcase their talent to one and all. It is also a reflection of the school and its culture. Keeping with its yearly trend of organizing an Annual Day in the month of August, Chapslee School presented an array of cultural items that brought forth the innate talent of students coupled with the hard work of the staff.
The two day event, was presided over by Dinesh Malhotra, an Indian Administrative Officer, on Saturday August 26. On August 27, the Guest of Honour was Parliamentarian and Woman of substance, Rani Pratibha Singh.
Presenting the school report at the commencement of the show, Principal Sudershan Dogra welcomed the guests. She outlined the performance of the students in the board examinations, which was outstanding. At the co-curricular level the students of the school participated in various inter school events and brought laurels back home. Chapslee was the winner of the running trophy in the 7th Padamshree Naina Devi Contest; three students represented Shimla District in the Inter-State Basketball Championship and Chetan Kanwar, a keen theatre artist from the school has played the main lead in director Siddharth Chauhan’s film ‘Pashi’ that makes its way into the Rhode Island International Film Festival.
Thereafter, the students came up with some memorable performances. A welcome dance on ‘Mahishasurmardini’ was presented by the students of Classes 9, 10 and 11. Tiny tots of Classes Nursery and KG sang ‘Wheels of the bus’ and ‘Bandar ne Khola Aspatal’. Classes 3-6 recited an English and Hindi poem. While the English poem, ‘Will you tie my shoe laces when I grow old’ was an emotional appeal of a parent to his child, the Hindi poem, ‘Kitaben Jhankti Hain’ stressed on the need to go back to books from computers and mobiles. Class 2 gave a beautiful dance performance on yesteryears popular holi song ‘Ja re hat natkhat’.
Kathak accompanied by thumri, performed by the girls of classes 7 and 8, was breathtaking and left the audience awestruck. A mime performance by the boys of classes 7 and 8 on the ill effects of mobiles in our lives left the audience in splits and in the process passed on an important message. Another item wrapped up with a valid point was the English play ‘Act Before its too Late’ by the students of classes 7 and 8. The play effectively brought out the effect of the misuse of technology by the present generation.
Music was the high point of the show and students presented melodious numbers, ‘Chodo kal ki baatein’, ‘Tere Rashke Kamar’, ‘Teri hai zameen’, ‘Brown girl in the rain’ and ‘Welcome song’. Hindi play by the senior students was a great comic relief. It also boasted of some fine acting skills. English play ‘Refund’ was a hilarious take on how a student who fails to make it good in life asks his school to refund his school fees and how his teachers checkmate him. Grand finale ‘Love you zindagi’ gave the audience the message of embracing life with open arms.
Chief guest Dinesh Malhotra congratulated the students and the staff and laid stress on why students must follow their teachers and parents and implement little instructions they receive to achieve success in life. Rani Pratibha Singh also congratulated the students and laid stress on the education of the girl child. She particularly mentioned how well the message of misuse of technology had been conveyed through the mime and the English play.
The programme ended with the speech of the head boy followed by the National Anthem.
