Learning can be fun if combined with the right kind of  teaching and the Education in Human Values (EHV) festival conducted by the INSITUTE OF SRI SATHYA SAI EDUCATION  (Mumbai) drives home this point.
 
The EHV festival in Mumbai is conducted for the  schools that have adopted the EHV programme. Under  this programme, each school allocates 45 minutes every week for a VALUE BASED lecture. The teachers of the  school are given EHV training as well as resource personnel from the organization visit the schools on a regular basis.
 
This festival has been going on for the past 5 years and this year it was conducted on Dec 11 & 12th, 2004 at Dharmakshetra, Mumbai. Over 30 schools participated in the festival. The event was divided according to  age groups and the junior's had Fancy dress  (mythological or historical characters), group dance  (any Indian festival) group singing (devotional /  patriotic) whereas the seniors had essay writing and value based manuscript or project.
 
The unique feature of this festival was that it was a  learning experience through values and was not done in  a competitive spirit. The results were declared as GOOD or OUTSTANDING depending on their performance and display of values. In this fast value-depleting world, it is only Swami's teachings that can save the future. Values can be embedded in children only from the young age and festivals like these make it easier to exhibit values in a fun-filled as well as a practical manner.

SMALL WONDERS!!!

The Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, held its 5th Annual, Music / Dance and Drama Festival at Dharmakshetra. Spanning two wonderful value – filled days,  the festival had been organised by the resource persons in the Institute of the Sri Sathya Sai Education. Over 34 schools across the city of Mumbai had participated in the event. Though the students had been invited for competitions, it was anything but an excercise in one-upmanship.The spirited cheering that each team did for all the others, proved that the children were there in the true spirit of competition. They were living all that they had learnt in the EHV programme. 

The main purpose of the entire programme is to reinforce the Godward journey of man and to urge future citezens on through a life of Human Values. This theme was radiating in every event of the day. In The Fancy Dress, the character had to be from mythology, a saint, or a patriot. This served to remind both students and teachers of the Dharmic lessons entailed in each of their stories. One saw a Tukaram, dancing to the name of the Lord, Gandhi urging the audience on to a life of peace and sacrifice, a Krishna reinstating man’s faith in God, a Mother Teresa, personifying the message: ‘Service to Man is Service to God!’  

The Folk Dances had to depict a festival from any part of India. The hall reverberated with the rythm of the Dandia, the energy of the Bhangra, the devotion of the Kainukathalli, and instantly one was transported to the tea gardens of Assam, the huts of Kerela, the garden valleys of Orissa. All this, to delightfully emphasise the Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God.

The Group Songs were a medly of patriotism, self-respect and love, pronouncing the greatness of Bharat, urging man to embrace peace, calling on God to bless one and all with love, forbearance and happiness. The tunes melted one’s heart and the sincerity with which they were sung, simply stirred the soul!! 

The Value – based projects and magazines were stunning examples of the beauty that can be created when creativity synergises with Human Values. Meticulously spun, these repertoires of stories, drawings and articles spoke in few words, the essence of thousands of scriptures man has created and learnt since the dawn of  human life. 

The beauty of the event was that students and teachers, sat together in the true spirit of Om Sahana Vavatu...’ to understand, analyse and apply Human Values into such delightful presentations, that made one introspect and learn. 

The most striking feature of the event was the format of the results. In a mode of loving acceptance and encouragement, there were only two categories of  winners. The ‘Good Performances’ and the ‘Outstanding Performances’, so that every child walked out with a prize, in either of the categories.’ The sheer success of this excellent concept, could be made out in the delighted cheers of students from every single school participating that day. 

One may call the event just another competition, but for those who were there, they witnessed with baited breath, but a glimpse of the glorious future that Swami has in store for the world. A future emanating form the repository of Human Values, on to the fulfilment of every man, woman and creature on this earth!!